EDF Energy is to give £225,000 to promote Brean and local tourism businesses to help mitigate the impact of the three-year closure of the village’s Pontins holiday park while it accommodates Hinkley Point C workers.
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 say the changes are already having a negative impact on their trade due to the loss of thousands of visiting holidaymakers.
EDF has confirmed this week that £225,000 has been agreed with Somerset Council to be spent on initiatives to market the Brean and Berrow area – including £75,000 of grants directly for businesses who could experience a loss of footfall from Pontins being taken out of use.
The holiday park is expected to house some 900 workers until December 2025, although, as with other agreements surrounding the power station, that could be extended if there are further delays in the construction programme.
A spokesman for Discover Brean, a group of tourism businesses in the village, told Burnham-On-Sea.com on Tuesday (April 4th) that they are unhappy with the proposed mitigation amount, describing it as a “joke” and adding that the group intends to challenge it.
Power generation at Hinkley Point C is currently expected to start in June 2027- two years later than originally planned. About 8,600 workers will be needed. The first Hinkley Point workers started moving into Brean Pontins 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.”
