A PUBLIC exhibition on two schemes for the Tropicana begins tomorrow (Friday) as North Somerset Council forges ahead with its attempt to find a suitable answer for the dilapidated site.

A council spokesman also said a timetable for the decision on the winning proposal had not changed despite Richard Nightingale’s plea for urgency last week.

The businessman is one behind one of two schemes which could regenerate the site, and has issued an eight-week ultimatum to council officers to appoint a developer.

Mr Nightingale, who is competing against developer Havard Tisdale, wants to build a swimming pool, gym and ice-skating adventure course at the site.

But a council spokesman says officers are not changing their target, which remains to make a decision by the end of July.

Mr Nightingale’s scheme will go on display alongside Havard Tisdale’s at the two-day exhibition at the Winter Gardens from tomorrow.

The event, which will run from 9.30am-1pm each day, is being set up to give residents a chance to comment on the submitted plans.

The feedback will be passed on to both bidding parties to help them match their proposals to suit public opinion.

North Somerset Council leader Nigel Ashton said: “The redevelopment of the Tropicana site is an important issue for many of our residents.

“While the EU procurement rules we are obliged to follow don’t allow us to include public opinion as a decision-making factor when assessing the two bids, we can take people’s views into account when working with the bidders to come up with proposed schemes.

“What people tell us at the exhibition, or through their online comments, will be passed on to both bidders so they have the opportunity to refine further their proposals in light of residents’ views.”

Havard Tisdale’s proposal for the site is for a seven-storey-high complex with an 80-bed hotel and 60 apartments, plus a swimming pool and car parking.

Displays at the exhibition will show images of designs and provide detail on how the schemes are commercially sustainable.

Residents will also be able to comment online using the council’s website at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/tropicana until January 28.