A group of Brean businesses is challenging EDF’s ability to close the Brean Pontins holiday park for three years in order to accomodate hundreds of Hinkley Point workers there.
As first reported by Burnham-On-Sea.com, EDF has taken over the site to house 900 Hinkley Point C workers and undertake a multi-million pound refit of the facilities. After the three years, the park will revert back to tourism use.
Many tourism businesses in Brean are worried that the changes will have a negative impact on trade due to the loss of thousands of holidaymakers.
Now, they have submitted a Certificate Of Lawfulness application to Sedgemoor District Council to determine if the site can legally be used for ‘residential accommodation’.
A spokesperson for business group Discover Brean told Burnham-On-Sea.com last night: “This is in response to EDF confirming that they have entered an agreement with Britannia Hotels, the owner of Pontins to allow residential use of the site for Hinkley Point workers.”
“No planning permission has been submitted on behalf of EDF or Britannia for the change of use at the site and local tourism businesses are deeply concerned.”
“The area of Berrow and Brean is in a designated tourism boundary as defined by the Sedgemoor local plan and furthermore the Pontins site is outside of the local settlement boundary and therefore residential development is contrary to Sedgemoor local plan policies.”
“The Pontins site has clearly been used as a holiday park on a seasonal basis consistently for many years, the chalets by virtue of their design and characteristics, are not suitable for all year round use and have poor insulation and sustainability properties.”
“There will also be a change to the characteristics and amenity of the local area caused by an influx of people residing here which is heavily reliant on tourism. No environmental impact assessment has been completed for the site to assess the impacts on highways, environment, public health or nature.”
“Accommodating workers at Brean was not in any disclosed plans by EDF to Sedgemoor District Council and their accommodation strategy clearly defines the expected impact on Tourism across the district. The use of Pontins is in direct conflict with these published plans and therefore no consultation or further impact assessments have taken place, neither have any councillors or officers had the opportunity to discuss this with EDF.”
“There has been no advance consultation with tourism businesses who stand to be severely impacted plus the many millions of pounds that is spent in the local economy by visiting tourists who will now be displaced to other UK resorts.”
The first Hinkley Point workers starting moving onto the Brean Pontins site before Christmas.
Andrew Cockcroft, Senior Stakeholder Relations Manager at Hinkley Point C, says: “We have been working with the local community and businesses throughout the development of our plans.”
“Alongside the local authorities, we will be delivering a significant mitigation package for the area. This will provide support for national and regional marketing, together with targeted financial support for businesses.”
“We will be accommodating workers at the Brean Pontins site for the next three years and at the same time investing millions of pounds into its refurbishment – something that will benefit Brean for many years to come.”
Several Brean residents and businesses have expressed concern about EDF’s changes at Brean Pontins, which they argue will have a negative impact on the village’s economy.
The application can be viewed on the Sedgemoor District Council planning portal, reference 06/23/00002.
