Holiday homes for Hinkley workers challenged by traders

Plans to house 900 nuclear construction workers in a holiday park are being challenged by local tourism firms.

EDF managers at Hinkley Point have struck a deal with Pontins to turn the holiday park at Brean Sands into accommodation for its workers.

But traders said they were worried the builders would not spend as much as tourists on souvenirs and in arcades.

EDF said it was investing in Brean and instead of seasonal work, there would be year-round trading opportunities.

Philip Booth is giving his fairground rides a spring clean when I meet him.

After struggling through covid lockdowns and now the big increase in his electricity bill, he needs a good season.

So, I ask him, how many of the Hinkley builders, working on the two nuclear reactors, does he hope to see in his park?

"I think those lads won't be there," he shrugs.

"We've lost two and a half thousand families all coming for days out and beach trips.

"Instead we've got contractors after a 12-hour shift.

"They might want a pint, but they won't go on a rollercoaster."

There are 60 small firms like his in Brean.

They sell buckets and spades to build sandcastles. They run amusement arcades, sell ice cream and fish and chips.

Every summer Pontins fills 600 chalets with up to 2,500 holidaymakers, and the 900 builders are no replacement, they argue.

Alan House chairs the local business group, Discover Brean.

He is challenging the decision by Sedgemoor council not to require a planning application to replace holidaymakers with builders.

He said: "It's clearly a change of use. The site has been a seasonal holiday park for years, not a year-round residential campus."

Hinkley Point managers insist they checked carefully before moving workers in.

They are renovating all the chalets, rewiring and fitting new appliances.

So far 200 workers have moved in, and as the chalets are refurbished more will arrive.

"Our refurbishment amounts to a £2m investment," explains Andrew Cockroft.

He is leading the so-called "stakeholder engagement" at Hinkley Point.

And he insists that far from damaging Brean's tourism economy, Hinkley will boost it.

He said: "In the long term our investment will bring more people to Brean. And right now, it means a year- round use of the facility.

"That means less seasonal jobs for people working at Pontins, and business all year round for the local traders."

Sedgemoor Council confirmed it was looking at a "certificate of lawfulness" for the use of Pontins to house Hinkley staff.