A VAST sum of previously untouched town council cash is to be ploughed into Petersfield's public buildings and recreation areas. More than £232,000 has been unlocked and is set to be spent on the Heath, the Festival Hall and new skate-park facilities. It came to light that the funds could be spent when new town clerk Neil Hitch arrived at the Festival Hall in the summer. Now, at the top of the shopping list, is a £25,000 refurbishment of the tennis courts at The Avenue playing fields, which could be ready as early as April 2007. At a bad-tempered meeting of the full council on Monday, members voted on schemes they felt were worthy of the £232,495 capital revenue which has been lying unspent in town hall coffers for six years. Mayor Bob Ayer told members: "The bottom line is that it is public money. In the year I became a councillor, the big message was that we were not a bank, and I share that view. We should not be sitting on public money. "Councillors have always been informed in the past that this money was not available for spending. I am extremely pleased that we are now being encouraged to make good use of our capital." The capital had been boosted by £166,276 in 2000. It was the first tranche of money given by developers for first refusal to buy town council-owned land at Penns Field - if it ever got planning permission for development. Apart from building the sports pavilion at Love Lane, little of the money has since been spent on capital items. Chris Jenner argued that the council could be seen in a bad light if it failed to find ways of spending the reserves. He said: "We would be flayed alive by the public if they knew we had the money and there were things it could be spent on in the community." But releasing the capital did not meet with universal approval and Aaron Baird, who stormed out of the meeting after a row with fellow councillors, felt the money should be left to build up interest. He said: "It is madness blowing all this money away. It is going to go right down to zero. We should let it build up over the years. There is an opportunity, when there is cash in the bank, to let the money grow." Other projects rubber-stamped for funding on Monday night included a £40,000 refit of Festival Hall windows and £15,000 for renewal of play equipment over five years. It was estimated that a further £20,000 would be invested in two youth shelters in the town, while £10,000 was earmarked for a whiteboard, Powerpoint projector and laptop for the council debating chamber. Also on the list was £50,000 for much-needed new skate-park facilities at Love Lane. It is hoped councillors can attract extra grant funding to help pay for the list of items, which currently exceeds the total revenue in the capital fund. Neil Hitch later told The Herald items not voted for on Monday evening would go under the microscope again in the coming months. He added that members had not realised the money could be spent. "It was basically a misunderstanding. I don't think councillors fully understood what they should or should not have been doing with the funds," said Mr Hitch. "As soon as I got here, the first thing I wanted to do was to find out what was going on with capital funds. "It turned out that there was all this money sitting there which could be used."

CAPITAL PROJECTS GIVEN THE NOD (Improvement / resource)

• Refurbishment of the tennis courts at The Avenue playing fields / £25,000 • Crittal windows at the Festival Hall / £40,000 plus grants • Bank stabilisation at Heath Pond / £20,000 plus additional resources • Safagrass for erosion control on the Heath / TBC • Accessible paths to play equipment and other sites / £10,000 • Phased renewal of existing play equipment over five years / £15,000 plus additional resources. • Powerpoint projector, laptop and whiteboard for council chamber / £10,000 • Skate-park equipment at Love Lane / £50,000 • Computer system for town hall offices / £5,000 • Provision of two youth shelters / £20,000 • Ventilation system for Festival Hall / £20,000 • Boundary fence and buttress with the highway along Heath boardwalk / TBC • New Festival Hall floor / estimated £20,000

PROJECTS ON THE BACK BURNER

• Tiered seating at the Festival Hall / £25,000 • Air conditioning units for offices / £20,000 • Sound desk / £20,000 • Lighting desk / £20,000 • Table and chairs for council chamber / £10,000 • Improved acoustics at Avenue Pavilion / £2,000 • New kitchen for Sheet village hall / £7,000 • Two-storey replacement kitchen-meeting block at Festival Hall / £300,000 • Rose Room carpet at Festival Hall / £20,000 • Boardwalk at Heath Pond