Pontins Brean Sands closes for three years to house Hinkley Point C workers

A holiday park in Somerset will close to the public for three years to house hundreds of workers from Hinkley Point C.

Pontins Brean Park will undergo a major refurbishment before up to 900 staff members move in by the end of the year. The first workers moved in at the end of 2022.

The operator of Hinkley Point, EDF Energy, applied to Sedgemoor District Council last year to change the use of the site for staff who are working on the construction of the power plant.

The existing facility is made up of 600 chalets, a leisure complex, swimming pool, shop, outdoor facilities including play areas, car parking and ancillary green areas in between the chalet buildings.

Improvements being carried out to the site include modernising the existing chalets and installing WiFi.

A spokesperson for EDF said: “EDF has taken over the site for three years in order to house 900 Hinkley Point workers and undertake a multi-million pound refit of the park to ensure the accommodation is of a high standard for workers.

"After the three years, the park will revert back to tourism use. The phased approach to the refurbishment is going well and we expect to complete later this year.

"There are around 50 Hinkley Point C workers staying at the site currently and we expect that to rise to 900 by the end of the year. We expect to finish the refurb later this year.

"The renovations represent a multi million pound upgrade to the site which will provide a long-lasting benefit to tourism in the area.

The Pontins site is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year and is around 15 miles from the Hinkley C site.

The holiday park, which is owned by Britannia Hotels, should revert back to its original use when the three years are up.

Hinkley Point C is expected to start operating in June 2027 - a year later than originally planned.