Brean tourism business owners and local councillors say they were left ‘underwhelmed’ after this week being invited to see the upgrades made by EDF to the village’s Pontins holiday park.
We reported here that EDF Energy has this month completed a £2 million refurbishment of the holiday park in Brean which is now home to hundreds of workers from Hinkley Point C.
The controversial temporary take-over of the site by EDF has been blamed for a fall in holidaymakers visiting Brean, hitting the trade of some tourism businesses.
As first reported here last year, EDF has taken over the site to house 900 Hinkley Point C workers there. After three years, the park is due to revert back to tourism use although there is already talk of this being extended to four years.
EDF says the changes were made after discussions with the local community, councillors and business groups started in the autumn of 2022.
This week’s tour included a visit to one of the newly refurbished chalets.
Andrew Cockcroft, Senior Stakeholder Relations Manager at Hinkley Point C, told Burnham-On-Sea.com during the visit that the Pontins site has been in need of a “long overdue major investment”, and that Hinkley workers “really like living in the upgraded chalets and using the facilities on and off the site.”
“A refurbishment of the chalets has been carried out – including new kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, TVs, and new Wi-Fi access. The restaurant, bar and laundry areas have also been upgraded and a brand new gym has been installed.”
”The project’s use of Pontins will bring year-around benefits to the local economy outside of the holiday season. Over 80 full-time year-round jobs have been created and workers will spend millions of pounds in the local area.”
But many of those on the tour were underwhelmed by the changes, saying the tired looking exteriors of the chalet buildings have not been upgraded with only interior changes to chalets made.
A spokesperson for Brean business group Discover Brean told Burnham-On-Sea.com afterwards: “Discover Brean noted that although there were 875 EDF workers residing on site that the site was very quiet, most appeared to be cooking and eating in their chalets — there were only around 20 in the restaurant area.”
“It’s clear that these workers are not using the local economy in a similar way to the usual holiday guests that would stay in Pontins.”
“The overall standard of refurbishment was OK, but the chalet we were shown had the original bathroom, kitchen and wardrobes which were showing signs of wear and tear and we have lots of concerns that the chalets were not designed or built for all year-round residential use. They lack insulation. This was highlighted last year when a screening application for the site was submitted by EDF and the council consultees responded.”
“After heavy use by EDF it’s clear that the accommodation will need to be refurbished again!”
“Berrow and Brean are within a designated tourism boundary, the adopted local plan protects tourism from displacement by major infrastructure projects such as Hinkley Point C.”
“The council have failed in their task to protect tourism and the local economy. Many local businesses in the vicinity of Pontins are seeing a reduction in trade because of the lack of holiday guests using the Pontins site who traditionally ventured out during their stays.”
“We are disappointed in the complete lack of engagement from county councillors and portfolio holders despite us reaching out for meetings.”
“Despite this, Brean is very much open for business and many holiday parks are seeing strong demand caused by the reduction in self catering accommodation caused by EDF using Pontins.”
Burnham-On-Sea’s MP James Heappey and Lib Dem candidate Tessa Munt have both visited Brean this month to discuss trade concerns with tourism businesses.
EDF adds: “Businesses which may be more affected by the project’s use of the holiday park are being given support. Grants are being made available for businesses to adapt and the project is also funding marketing campaigns to bring new visitors to the area.”
