TEMPERS have flared in a town council meeting as members disagreed over plans for a new car park on a floodplain.

Bromyard town councillors were debating whether to spend upwards of £25,000 on putting a bid forward for a new car park on the floodplain behind Sherford Street.

But while the planning committee recommended full council back the idea in the meeting on February 22, there were concerns from Coun Johnathan Lester and others about the sparse details of the proposals.

Planning committee chairman Coun Roger Page scolded some councillors for a "total lack of understanding" about Herefordshire Council's market town investment plan, which will see all county towns contribute ideas to economic development agents Rose Regeneration.

The agents will then pool ideas and take them to Herefordshire Council to try and access the £13.4 million funding as part of the investment plan.

Coun Page said the council needed to decide how big the proposed car park behind Sherford Street was going to be, and how it was accessed from the A44 Bromyard Bypass. His own view was that the car park should be for 50 cars, with an access road from the bypass.

He added an at least £25,000 from the town council's reserves could have to be spent on surveys and planning approval, before money comes from Herefordshire Council for the actual building of the car park.

Coun Lester hit out at the plans, saying he knew nothing about the size or feasibility of the scheme and there was only one sentence on the meeting agenda to decide whether the council should spend upwards of £25,000.

"I wouldn't make any decision on any revenue expenditure, or expenditure of reserves, without full details of what we are talking about here," he said.

"Councillor Martin has just said there's more information, and the nature of the bid is that which will lead to certain things, but I haven't got any of that in front of me."

He said "the world and his dog" seemed to be against building roads at the minute, and while he was in support of more car parking in Bromyard, couldn't agree to spending money to make a bid if there was no chance of a car park actually being built.

Responding to the concerns, Coun Page said anyone who believed the council could access the £3.5 million for Bromyard without spending money on surveys and other work beforehand were "fooling themselves".

A frustrated Coun Page added: "We can't keep putting it off, we have to make a decision tonight, or forget it."

Councillor Mark Franklin said he would also like more information before voting.

Coun Page said he felt there was "a total lack of understanding of what this bid process is all about", which could be because only a few councillors have been involved.

The council then decided it would defer a decision on whether or not to make a bid for the car park until the next meeting.