LIKE a lot of places, Weston-super-Mare suffered from a lack of visitors this summer owing to the terrible weather!

But how different it could have been if the Weston councillors had listened to the local residents and put a roof on the Tropicana and made it into an all-weather swimming pool?

But no, they knew best! Can you imagine the thousands of visitors who would have come to Weston just so they could have a swim no matter what the weather was?

Weston councillors have always been anti-cars and, by putting parking meters in every street, they have managed to drive all the car owners out of Weston, turning Weston into a ghost town with shops and pubs and restaurants closing.

It seems they would rather have empty shops which eventually get turned into flats than drop the business rates to try and encourage people to try and put Weston on the map again.

Well done, Weston councillors.

Edward (Ted) Clark
Chestnut Close
Congresbury

Councillor Mike Bell, the leader of North Somerset Council, has explained why the pool closed at the Tropicana in 2000 and outlined why various schemes to bring it back – which were given planning permission – did not go ahead.

In a post on his official Facebook page on September 3, he wrote: “The Tropicana closed as a pool in 2000, 24 years ago. 

“It closed because it was losing money year on year and needed substantial investment that the council could not afford.

“At the time of closure, the council hoped to find a partner to invest in the site and reopen it.

“The council did listen and try to re-open a pool, and several times over many years gave permission for pool projects, none of which got delivered.”

He added: “Four different schemes were given the go ahead by the council to bring back a pool (between 2005 and 2013) and none of them succeeded.

“This was fundamentally due to the cost of construction and the difficulty delivering a viable scheme that would be sustainable in the longer term.

“Today, in 2024, the chances are lower than ever.”