CLLR Govier has given the reasons he abstained in the Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) vote on spending £40,000 on a feasibility study into a railway station for Wellington.

He said the study was likely to cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and councillors were given no idea where the rest of the money was going to come from.

The Department for Transport advised the town council in a recent letter that funding for the new station would have to come from Somerset County Council’s budget but the county has made no budgetary provision for this in its capital programme. The county had no money in its budget to even to contribute towards the feasibility study.

Cllr Govier said the £40,000 being set aside for the project was the same amount being cut from local voluntary groups like the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, community transport and support groups for vulnerable residents.

Immediate cuts mean that TDBC is planning to close toilets in Longforth Road, Wellington, from the end of March. These are likely to be kept open with the town council picking up the running costs but Cllr Govier said it seemed strange that the council could find money for a project not within its remit but is cutting its own services.

Other cuts will affect the town, including removing 48 hanging baskets from the town centre over the summer.