Councillors have this week expressed concerns as it emerged that a new Travelodge hotel being built in Highbridge is to be branded as ‘Travelodge Burnham-On-Sea’.
At a meeting of the Town Council’s Planning Applications Committee on Monday evening (June 11th), members considered an application from Travelodge for new signs at the site in Bennett Road, Highbridge.
Clr John Parkes said: “Shouldn’t it be Travelodge Highbridge? I can see this being confusing for visitors.”
“If Sedgemoor District Council wants to support the regeneration of Highbridge, then surely we want Highbridge in the name.”
And Cllr Louise Parkin added: “The hotel isn’t in Burnham, it will be in Highbridge. I think this will be very confusing to visitors.”
“I have no objections to the signs themselves but the wording should be changed, with Highbridge as the main name and possibly Burnham in brackets underneath.”
A Travelodge spokesperson added: “We are delighted to be opening a new hotel in Highbridge, which will be the town’s first branded budget hotel. We are on schedule to open towards the end of this year. To help attract new business and leisure customers to the area, we are naming this hotel Highbridge Burnham-On-Sea Travelodge. This name will help to widen the search for online customers who are looking for good quality, branded budget accommodation within the area.”
Building work on the new 75-bed Travelodge hotel, on the Isleport Business Park, just off Bennett Road, is well underway and the new hotel is set to open in October 2018. The four-storey hotel will have 75 bedrooms, 75 parking spaces, and a cafe/bar at the site, as Burnham-On-Sea.com first reported here.
During Monday’s meeting, town councillors gave the application for new signs the go-ahead but will suggest new wording. Sedgemoor District Council has the final decision on the application.
Also at the same site in Highbridge’s Bennett Road, work is underway on a new Aldi supermarket which will open this summer, creating scores of new jobs.
