A meeting next week will look at the future of the Pontins site at Camber – a year after the holiday camp suddenly closed.
Pontins owner Britannia Hotels will be represented at the meeting along with Rother District Council (RDC), which owns the site’s freehold, and local MP Helena Dollimore.
During an interview with BBC Radio Sussex on Wednesday, December 11 Christine Bayliss, RDC’s deputy leader, confirmed Britannia are still paying rent on the site on a lease with more than a hundred years to run. “It’s difficult with such an old lease to enforce things but it is Britannia’s responsibility to put right the dilapidations on the site. We’ve had conversations but I’m disappointed that things have not moved further along.”
She confirmed the site will probably need to be demolished with RDC looking at taking back control of the site. “Nothing would please me more than seeing what we could do with the site by leasing it out to another operator.”
She acknowledged that would mean the council taking responsibility for repairing the site.
MP Helena Dollimore met representatives from Britannia Hotels in November and organised the meeting next week which will see Britannia finally sit down with Rother. “It’s progress, but for a whole year now the Pontins site has been abandoned, leaving the Camber community in limbo. The site is dilapidated and many repairs have not been done. The key for me is ensuring those repairs are completed before the site re-opens.”
Britannia Hotels have been approached for comment.
Pontins used to attract tens of thousands of visitors at the 32-acre site at Camber. The closure has had a devastating effect on local shops and businesses. Work begins in the new year on the £2.5million Camber welcome centre.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
Pull Pontins down and replace with a good quality
Hotel! Any land left housing !
Get rid of Britannia hotels and update the facilities.
People need somewhere to take the family on a local holiday.
What they need is someonwho want to bring pontins back to life and how it use to be ,I went there every year with my children then my grandchildren at the one in Hemsby..
I now go Haven as it’s the closest to pontins I could find as we are many over 17 of us ..but still miss potins
I used to go to pontins every year i loved it there the entertainment was brilliant would love to go back there again love the site never had amy complaints and love the beach hopefully it can be done up and reopened again qould love to stay there again please think hard about this
Build a retail centre on the site: B&Q, Aldi/Lidl, Currys, Boots, Poundland, Halfords, McDonald’s, Cinema etc. The site is big enough to accommodate lots of shops and car parks. Build it and they will come
Not unless they build a dual carriageway from the A259
The site is an eyesore and needs pulling down. I would like to see a enterprising center for locals and visitors in the form of maybe a small hotel / self catering also a seperate Fitness center with swimming pool which is already there, maybe a spar for relaxation not just for holidays, small shops for things you cant buy in Camber eg pet supplies,gardening things which would draw outsiders to come and browse and use these facilites and put back employment into Camber with a nice relaxing holiday feel.