Weston's Tropicana site.

THE clock is ticking for Weston’s Tropicana with a decision on the dilapidated pool’s future set to be made within the next 13 weeks.

Last week the Mercury reported the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had not yet received proof from North Somerset Council that it had published a public notice about its application to demolish the seafront structure.

But the office for Secretary of State for communities and local Government, Eric Pickles, has now received a copy of the notice, which was published in the Mercury on January 12.

A spokesman for his office said: “We do now have all of the papers in our possession to make a decision within 13 weeks.”

After the council’s executive voted to pull the pool down last year, the authority formally applied to DCLG earlier this month for permission to demolish it.

The Trop (WSM) Ltd group, headed by Puxton Park owner Derek Mead, has been engaged in a bitter fight with the council to save the site and has formed a business plan to restore the Tropicana which includes an Olympic size pool, shops and restaurants.

The group has also served the council with a judicial review, having alleged that the authority has failed to comply with national policy by refusing to consider the group’s business plan as a viable option to save the site.

The 13-week period will not affect the 28-day deadline for the review.

Two weeks ago the authority released a report by property experts DTZ which stated that the Trop (WSM) plan was not viable, but the group hit back, saying it was ‘flawed’.