Shepton Mallet Town Council has agreed to submit an expression of interest for Town of Culture funding, backing a move supporters said could boost the town's profile and bring groups together behind a wider cultural push.

The decision followed a lively debate in which councillors weighed the size of the opportunity against concerns over staff capacity and the amount of work involved. Members were told that later-stage funding could be used to bring in outside expertise if the bid progressed.

Cllr Janet Reilly was one of the strongest supporters of the move. She told the meeting: "You got to aim for the stars and hopefully you hit the moon," adding that even making progress in the process would show the community the council was "interested and invested in the town".

Cllr Jane Nicklin also backed the proposal, saying: "This all sort of aligns for me." She said the bid fitted with wider work around tourism, town promotion and collaboration between local groups.

Not everybody was convinced. Cllr Matthew Harrison told the meeting: "I'm actually a bit lukewarm about this to be honest," arguing that the council should stay focused on physical infrastructure and warning that the process could demand a lot of officer time without any guaranteed return.

Others urged the town not to shy away from the chance. Cllr Edric Hobbs said: "If you don't ask in the first place, you'll never know," while the meeting also heard that contributions to the expression of interest would need to be made quickly ahead of the deadline at the end of March.

The vote means Shepton Mallet will now put its name forward in the first stage of the process. Councillors were told that if the town got through that stage, there would be funding available to help develop a fuller bid.

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