Tropicana fiasco - leading councillor should resign

12.00.00am GMT Fri 13th Nov 2009

Conservative run North Somerset Council has today confirmed that plans to redevelop Weston-super-Mare's Tropicana have fallen through.

The Council has announced that at a meeting last week between council officers and the intended developers, Henry Boot, both parties agreed that changes in European law coupled with the current economic climate meant that the project was not commercially viable and could not proceed.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare has expressed his dismay at the announcement and called for a senior councillor to resign his position.

Mr Bell said: "The Tropicana saga has been running for a decade and we stagger from one catastrophic failure to another. No political party can claim any credit because mistakes have been made by all sides.

"However, I believe that those in office today and responsible for pressing ahead with this scheme in the face of the evidence should take responsibility and quit.

"Councillor Elfan Ap Rees, the Council's current deputy leader, has been in charge of this project for much of the last decade. He championed the failed Mace Estates scheme. He was chief cheerleader for Henry Boot and as recently as September was still expressing confidence in the plans.

"How can we have confidence that he will be able to make it third time lucky? He should resign and make way for someone with new ideas to make things happen."

As a Councillor until May 2007, Mr Bell opposed the Henry Boot deal and supported an alternative plan - backed in the Council's own official public consultation - for a Council-run covered swimming and leisure facility at the Tropicana.

He added: "The Council needs to show some courage and stop expecting the private sector to come along and do the job for them. Weston is improving with a fantastic new Grand Pier rising and several other schemes coming forward. The Council must show some leadership and get the Tropicana open again."