Planned Tropicana revamp expected to get go-ahead

Plans to transform Weston-super-Mare's Tropicana into a 5,000-seater venue could be approved next week after the design was amended following criticism from locals.

Some local residents dubbed the building "brutalist" and a "1980s warehouse" when plans were unveiled in January, but now planning officers are recommending a softened design gets the go-ahead.

After closing as a pool in 2000, the Tropicana stood vacant for years until Banksy used it as the setting for his Dismaland bemusement park in 2015, since then it has been used as an events space for hire.

North Somerset received £20m from the government's Levelling Up Fund in 2022, and allocated a portion to revamp the 1930s former lido.

The 1930s frontage on the promenade would be restored but the indoor venue behind, which was built in the 1980s, would be demolished and rebuilt.

But the height of the planned new building has been reduced, and architects switched the bright white exterior for a mottled light grey.

The building will rely on solar panels and heat pumps to generate most of its electricity and heat.

The venue will be able to host events of up to 1,000 people indoors and a total of 5,000 people across the whole site, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The Tropicana was the site of Banksy's famous "Dismaland" bemusement park in 2015

It will create 15 full-time jobs, and is expected to generate hundreds of part-time jobs for large events.

The planning officers' report ahead of a planning meeting on 14 May states: "The resulting economic benefits to the local tourism economy and creation of new leisure facilities for both local residents and visitors will be significant."

"It is considered that the amended design would be acceptable in visual terms, subject to careful selection of finished materials controlled by condition," it adds.

The work is being funded by £8.7m from the government's Levelling Up Fund and a further £2.7m from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's Cultural Development Fund.