The ‘UK’s worst’ seaside town about to get huge new £20m revamp

A struggling seaside town in the UK, which was the childhood home of Fawlty Towers creator and Monty Python star John Cleese,  has revealed plans for its huge revival after being cruelly dubbed one of the country’s worst holiday resorts.

Weston-super-Mare in Somerset is often named one of the country’s worst seaside towns, as recently as 2023 by Which?, but residents are hoping that is all about to change.

It was even the location of Banksy’s Dismaland, a ‘sinister twist on Disneyland’ in 2015 such was its reputation for poverty and neglect.

But there are hopes an ambitious new plan will breathe new life into the seaside town with a number of new additions, including reopening the famous pier which has been closed for the past 30 years.

The town council’s tourism and information services manager, Warren Parker-Mills, revealed plans for its new “brand”.

This is part of the £20million Weston Placemaking Strategy which will regenerate the town as part of a 10-year plan.

He told BristolLive: “I used to spend a lot of time in London and actually, I can almost envisage Weston further down the line to have little pockets of Shoreditch or little pockets of Islington.”

Some of these plans include a new waterpark opening this summer, joining the currently Water Adventure & Play Park which is currently being renovated to include new structures and play areas.

He also said there are plans to revamp the 158-year-old Birnbeck Pier – which has been closed since 1994 – with £10million funding.

The pier is the only one in the UK which links to the mainland to an island, with access to Birnbeck Island.

And the Old Town Quarry, also currently closed, could be turned into an event space.

He added: “We could have an opera there, we could have a ballet there, we could have things that are not necessarily associated with Weston-Super-Mare.”

And he revealed there were plans for a weekly market at the Italian Gardens.

Of the many abandoned and boarded up shops in the town, he suggested: “Could we get a couple of artists to come in and hand paint a greengrocers on the inside of the glass, and a barbershop next door, and a butchers next door?”

Located on the Severn Estuary, Weston-super-Mare has the second-highest tidal range in the world.

Once a small village, Weston has become a popular seaside resort with distinct architecture and a fascinating history.

But like many seaside resorts, Weston’s popularity declined in the second half of the 20th century from its Victorian heyday when visitors flocked to bath in its healing waters.

The Royal Hotel was Weston’s first hotel. It was built on the seafront between 1807 and 1810.

The Beatles stayed there when the first of six consecutive nights of concerts given at the Odeon Cinema in Weston-super-Mare, in July 1963.