2 weeks Ago
Somerset West and Taunton Council made it a priority to bring such an attraction to the former West Somerset area within the next decade. They hoped that such an attraction would help deliver improvements to the existing road and rail network - including a possible hovercraft link to Wales and Ireland. The council believed a new attraction would “reduce dependency locally upon the current tourism offer” while ensuring more people from outside Somerset would come to the area.
At the time, the rumour mill in the county went into overdrive following this news - with some people begging the council for a new Disneyland attraction in the area. Mark Wathen, the council’s lead specialist in economy and prosperity at the time, said in a written report: “We want to investigate the potential of attracting a major tourist attraction to west Somerset to increase tourist numbers and the time spent by visitors to Somerset West and Taunton. "This will have possible links to a college for tourism skills, which would also justify greater improvements to new and existing transport infrastructure (including road, rail and sea).
” Understandably, the council that promised this was the Somerset West and Taunton Council - which officially dissolved in 2023. On April 1, 2023, the council was abolished, and its functions were passed to the Somerset County Council. On the same day, Somerset Council became a unitary authority.
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