A council's plan to spend £20 million revamping one part of an island has been met by opposition.

Swale council is bidding for some of the government's £4.8bn levelling-up fund and wants to concentrate on Sheerness.

But at a lively meeting of the Sheppey area committee others argued the money could be better spent on other parts of the island.

Council leader Roger Truelove (Lab, Homewood) told the audience at Sheerness East WMC on Tuesday (Feb 8): "We have already invested £20m in Sittingbourne town centre so it seems a no-brainer that it is now the turn of Sheppey. And the main focus should be Sheerness."

He added: "We hope this will benefit the whole island and lead to a momentum of investment for the next decade which will stimulate further growth and development."

The government wants bids to tackle transport, culture and the regeneration of town centres and says work must be completed by March 2025. Bids can include up to three related projects.

The council's blueprint, provisionally called Sheerness Revival, wants to open up the seafront, currently hidden behind a huge concrete sea wall, and to redevelop Beachfields so it connects more easily with the High Street.

Cllr Truelove said: "We want to make the seafront somewhere visitors will want to come to and then, hopefully, will visit the High Street for shopping and a meal."

The council has come up with three ideas:

• Demolish the town's ageing indoor swimming pool and rebuild it within the leisure centre, which is home to the healthy living centre, to free up the land for "other attractions" which could include restaurants with sea views, five-a-side football pitch, miniature golf and a bowling alley.

• Extend Sheppey College in Bridge Road, part of the EKC Group which runs Canterbury College, so it can offer Islanders aged 14 to 16 more technical and vocational courses. It suggests building on a council-owned car park surplus to requirements.

• It is already spending £1.5m converting its former council offices at Master's House in Trinity Road into a community hub and believes that should be part of the bid, too.

Ray Featherstone who runs the 50p-a-night County Youth Club in Meyrick Road said: "I don't want to put the dampeners on this but there are families in Sheerness who can't afford to go swimming in the pool even now. Young people just haven't got the money."

Queenborough town councillor Ashley Shiel said: "This whole bid seems a little rushed. I don't think people go for crazy golf any more. We should be looking at the whole picture. Sheppey has an awful lot of history and culture. Let's look at our aviation heritage at Eastchurch or our maritime history at Blue Town or Queenborough.

"Sheerness is one of the most deprived areas in the UK where 67% of children can't even afford swimming lessons. Why talk of crazy golf when the council can't even maintain its tennis courts. Who will be able to afford to use this new leisure centre?"

He added: "Town centres are a thing of the past. I haven't been to Sheerness High Street for years. I get Amazon to deliver everything I want the next day. Or I go to Bluewater which has everything under one roof."

A vociferous posse of wild swimmers from the Sheppey Blue Tits, all wearing dry robes, made an impassioned plea for a tidal pool on the seafront, similar to one across the water at Southend.

Faye Morgan said: "During the pandemic we started with three members. Now we have more than 1,000. The unique selling point of Sheerness is that it has the sea. People come from all over the country to swim here. That's why a tidal pool would be so good and really put Sheppey on the map. You can go 10-pin bowling anywhere."

She added: "College students could help build it. It would be great work experience. And using it would be free."

A petition calling for a tidal pool on Sheppey now has 10,000 signatures.

Jeannie Milburn of Newington, Sittingbourne, added: "People come from miles around to visit your beach but it is very hard to access. I take my life in my hands every time I climb the steps by the Ship on Shore car park. They are so steep they frighten me. You don't need a new swimming pool. If you do one thing, you need to pretty-up your beach and make it accessible to everybody. You can't do anything about the tides but a tidal pool would mean people can swim any time of the day."

Sheerness town councillor Chris Reed cheered and added: "The steps at Neptune Jetty stop parents with pushchairs, those in mobility scooters and cyclists from using the full length of our promenade."

Their argument did not fall on deaf ears.

Cllr Monique Bonney, who holds the economy and property portfolio in the council's Cabinet, is no stranger to tidal pools, being a regular visitor to Southend which has its own with imported sand, showers and restaurant, told the audience: "I have taken a note."

Another member of the public demanded more to be done at Barton's Point Coastal Park. "There's absolutely nothing there. It needs to be properly managed with tourist accommodation and camping," she said.

Cllr Bonney said the council was already developing separate plans for the site.

Others called for the masts of Sheppey's bomb ship the Richard Montgomery, which are being cut down this summer, to be turned into public art.

Cllr Ken Ingleton, who was chairing the meeting and had already drawn gasps when he admitted he had never swum in the sea off Sheppey, said: "The best idea would be to drop them in the Moat where they will be surrounded by water and the cormorants can still land on them."

Cllr Simon Fowle (Con, Queenborough and Halfway) quipped: "Can we get rid of that moody mermaid mural at the same time?"

Cllr Angela Harrison (Lab, Sheerness), who handles the health and wellbeing portfolio in Swale's Cabinet, said Sheppey had been let down many times by failed promises but it was time to back the bid.

She said: "We have had talking shops for years which have achieved nothing. At long last we are looking at joining the bits together to make a real difference. This is something we can all get behind."

A council spokeswoman said: "We’ve received some useful ideas from the extraordinary Sheppey area committee this week. People suggested they would like to see a soft play in the new leisure centre, arts and culture prioritised at the Master’s House studios and the town’s natural assets accentuated, especially connection to the sea.

"Emphasising the history and heritage of Sheerness, bringing the masts from SS Montgomery on shore if possible and exploring the idea of having town centre gateways installed were also a priority."

She said 195 people had already taken part in the consultation so far and "80-90%" supported council plans to regenerate Beachfields, expand Sheppey college, develop Master’s House further and better connect the town centre.

She added: "We’ll now look at how best to include these new ideas into the bid before submissions open in the spring."

* The consultation runs until February 25. For details, visit here https://swale.gov.uk/news-and-your-council/consultations/sheppey-levelling-up-fund