Pontins Brean Sands closes to house Hinkley Point C workers

Pontins Brean Sands will house workers for the next three years, until November 2025.

EDF, the French electricity firm building Hinkley Point C, submitted a change of use request for the holiday park to Sedgemoor District Council in August.

The park will revert to tourist use when the construction workers move out.

It consists of 600 chalets, a leisure complex, swimming pool, shop and other outdoor facilities including play areas, car parking and ancillary green spaces.

Two nuclear reactors are being built at Hinkley Point C to provide zero-carbon electricity to six million homes. (Image: Steve Richardson)

No building works were proposed as part of the application, but EDF will invest millions into its refurbishment to “create a positive legacy when the holiday park reverts to general tourist use”.

Around 100 Hinkley Point C have already moved into the holiday park, with numbers expected to rise throughout 2023.

A spokesperson for Hinkley Point C said: “We will be accommodating workers at the Brean Pontins site for the next three years and investing millions of pounds into its refurbishment.

“We have been working with the local community and businesses throughout this process and developed a significant mitigation package, which will benefit the area over the years to come.”

EDF plans to start generating electricity from Hinkley Point C in June 2027. (Image: Steve Richardson)

EDF has also proposed using an agricultural field near Nether Stowey for 103 caravan pitches at Quantock Lakes (Inwood Farm) until the end of 2025.

This is one of three proposed caravan parks for Hinkley Point C workers, which would be used to house a total of 470 workers.

The others would be at Moorhouse Farm in Holford and Mill Farm in Fiddington.

The application follows a review of the Hinkley Point C project that led to an expected rise in the peak number of workers from 5,600 to 8,500.