An extra £1m for a major regeneration project in Bridgwater town centre will be provided as part of the Hinkley Point C (HPC) construction,

Around 8,600 workers will be needed during the peak of the construction programme on the new nuclear power station – around 3,000 higher than was originally predicted.

EDF Energy is implementing various measures to mitigate this "worker uplift", with a number of existing camp-sites being asked to expand or extend their temporary use for Hinkley workers (such as the Mill Lane facility in Fiddington).

In one of its final actions before being abolished, Somerset West and Taunton Council has secured the early release of £1m towards delivering a "training centre of excellence in health and social care" on the site of Bridgwater's former community hospital.

A further £225,000 for local tourism and community projects will also be secured in return for allowing EDF Energy to house its workers at the Pontins holiday camp in Brean for the next three years.

The health and social care training centre will be constructed within the former community hospital on Salmon Parade, with an "annexe" site being delivered at The Seahouse Centre on Stephenson Road in Minehead.

The former community hospital, which dates back to 1865, has lain vacant since 2014 when the new community hospital and minor injuries unit opened on Bower Lane.

The project has been awarded £19.7m from the government's levelling up fund, with Somerset County Council's executive committee formally accepting the funding in late-February and initiating the process of purchasing the site.

While Bridgwater lies outside of the Somerset West and Taunton district, the initial legal agreements surrounding HPC were signed by West Somerset Council – meaning any changes or additional agreements have to be approved by the authority which succeeded it (i.e. Somerset West and Taunton Council).

The district council's planning committee met in Taunton on Thursday morning (March 30) to agree two new legal agreements surrounding the site – the first of which concerned the release of £1m towards the Bridgwater facility.

The other agreement seeks to create an "appropriate mitigation fund and associated measures" to support local businesses which the Pontins Brean Sands holiday park is used to accommodate HPC workers.

The use of the holiday park is expected to house around 900 workers until December 2025 – though, as with other agreements surrounding the power station, this could be extended if there are any further delays in the construction programme.

EDF had originally envisioned being able to expand its two workers campuses to provide an additional 480 beds at the two existing campuses – with 160 being at the Hinkley Campus near the power station, and 320 beds at the Sedgemoor Campus on the A39 Bath Road in Bridgwater.

However, John Burton, the council's strategic lead officer for nationally significant infrastructure projects, told the planning committee that these were "not now deliverable".

This situation, combined with "site constraints" on the various camp-sites being used, meant that "around 700" beds were still needed – leading to EDF's intended lease of the Pontins facility.

In return for allowing it to lease the site, EDF has provisionally agreed to spend £2m on upgrading Brean Sands, providing improved chalets and relevant infrastructure.

Mr Burton said: "Hinkley Point C workers have actually been accommodated at the Pontins site since the end of last year, and there are currently, as I understand it, about 200 workers being accommodated there – but there's certainly room for another 700."

The additional £225,000 EDF is proposing by way of mitigation will 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.

EDF previously agreed in April 2022 to provide nearly £1m for affordable housing schemes within the HPC catchment area – of which £410,000 was concentrated within the Cricketer Farm development site in Nether Stowey.

Councillor Keith Wheatley said he was "baffled" by the additional funding for Bridgwater, arguing that the money should go to the Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) to fund smaller projects across the county.

He said: "SCF's role is to give a great many, relatively small grants to bodies all across Somerset.

"I can't imagine that any application for £1m would go from Bridgwater Town Council, for instance, to SCF to do infrastructure projects in the centre of town – the SCF is more about regenerating village halls and the like.

"It [the SCF] does not exist to do major urban regeneration. I am quite honestly baffled as to how this is happening; on the face of it, it seems a very surprising proposition.

"I wholeheartedly approve the regeneration of the centre of Bridgwater – I think they're doing some great projects. But it appears to me that this is sleight of hand."

Mr Burton said the SCF's trustees and director Justin Sargant OBE had offered no objection to the funding being used in this manner.

Councillor Ian Aldridge claimed that Pontins had no intention of reopening the Brean site, and questioned whether the additional funding from EDF would be properly used.

He said: "I think I'm right that Brean Sands has been closed by Pontins, and they have no intention of operating it into the future as a holiday camp.

"I admire the community in that area seeing an opportunity for assistance to improve the economy of the local area with such a large loss. What would we do if Minehead's Butlins was similarly shut? It would be devastating.

"I wonder why HPC is being used again to qualify a considerable amount of money being spent on marketing the area.

"I do wonder if the basis of this funding being spent in this way is actually appropriate. The people that are making money out of this are the owners, and so the owner should be paying something of the £225,000, if not all of it."

Mr Burton said he had "no knowledge" of Pontins' future intentions regarding the Brean Sands park, stating: "It is not our role to speculate on that."