A group set up to look at the future of Porthleven’s clock tower and institute has been given £3,000 to continue that work – but not before a row broke out over how the money was to be spent.

The working party tasked with finding a new way to use the Bickford Smith Institute and cover the cost of its restoration had asked the town council for £3,000 so that it could continue its public consultation, produce surveys, hire a PR service and start looking for grant funding.

Mayor Barbara Powell, who sits on the working party, explained: “I really feel that the building is in such dire need of protection, particularly before any more storms hit it.

“This is why we want £3,000, to get a real move on with the project and get surveys, and not have to wait for available council meetings.”

Deputy mayor Andrew Wallis said that while supportive of the group having its own budget to continue the work, he wanted clarification of how the money would be spent.

It was after he saw the breakdown of the proposed costs, which earmarked £700 for PR, including setting up a page on Facebook.

He said: “I did balk at the cost of setting up a Facebook page. You do have a PR cost in your budget; I think that’s an awful lot of money to spend on PR.

“A Facebook page doesn’t need a lot of money spent on it and it doesn’t need money spent on updating that. There’s a lot of capable people on the working party and the council who can do that.”

However, councillor Alan Jorgensen said he did not believe this was a “significant amount for the amount of people you’re targeting” – although he agreed that if there was a monetary value being fixed to Facebook he “would be concerned about that.”

Town clerk Corrie Thompson suggested the decision could be deferred until further clarification was given over specific spending costs, but councillor Dick Powell, who is also on the working party, argued that this would delay the project “significantly.”

He said: “We are hoping to bring an item to the council in September where we can discuss openly the recommendations the working party feels could be a sensible way to move forward.

“You might not like these recommendations; you might want us to start again or do something else. These are controversial recommendations.

“We really need, at this stage, a gesture from the council to say can we move forward.”

A majority vote, with four councillors in favour, two against and two abstaining, agreed to give the working party the £3,000 at that meeting.