Nearly a decade ago, the other residents of Weston-Super-Mare woke up to find that the town had been selected to host what looked like a new theme park.
The disused site of a swimming pool, the Tropicana, on the seashore, had been reopened at the call of Dismaland.
But if you look closer, you’ll see that the attractions on display aren’t the same as they always have been on the seashore.
There were statues of killer whales jumping out of toilets, mini-golf courses built around helicopter crashes, and a police van submerged in a fountain.
In fact, Dismaland was actually the paintings of prominent street artist Banksy. The anonymous author had chosen the city’s beach as the location for his “sinister turn at Disneyland,” which he described as a “family theme park unsuitable for children. “
“As a kid I enjoyed the Tropicana, so to reopen those doors is a real honor,” the graffiti artist explained in a press release.
Banksy’s selection of the Lido as the site of his grim critique of fashionable Britain seemed far from accidental. After its final closure in 2000, the site has become increasingly deteriorated following the failure of a series of regeneration attempts.
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The newest of these came out in 2011 from developer Havard Tisdale, who abandoned his proposals on the grounds that they were no longer commercially viable.
“Many points have changed, either in the main points of this project, but also in the progress of other structures in the city,” a spokesperson for the real estate company told the BBC at the time.
Dismaland may have captured the gloomy atmosphere that was prevalent in many seaside towns in the mid-2010s, but, for Weston-Super-Mare, the selection of the exposure location had a hugely positive impact.
In the brief two months that the event lasted, celebrities from Brad Pitt to Ant and Dec were among the 150,000 visitors who flocked to the Somerset seaside resort, generating an estimated £20 million.
But according to John Owen, regional land manager for Keepmoat Homes, the gift Banksy gave Weston-Super-Mare went far beyond visitors or money.
“Banksy created a stir,” he told L’Express. Anything he touches attracts other people and I think Weston-Super-Mare tried to tame that kind of cool symbol [that Dismaland generated]. I think the local authority is looking to be noticed as attractive and artistic [and looking to make the city] a cutting-edge place where other people can go. “
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The consequences of this change in the narrative about the beach and the city are considerable.
While Havard Tisdale was concerned about the lack of progress at other sites in Weston-Super-Mare (the removal of Tropican regeneration after Dismaland), the town is full of plans for further advancements in evolution.
Efforts are underway for a £1 billion expansion and regeneration of the seaside town, a vision that supporters say will provide 882,000 square feet of advertising space, 9,000 jobs and 6,000 new homes.
As Keepmoat’s land manager, Owen has been at the center of the builder’s involvement in this project.
“We have 425 houses [that we plan to build] and we are one of the smaller parts. The larger master plan almost looks like an urban extension of Weston-Super-Mare,” he explained.
“The concept has been brewing for several years, there is a lot of demand for housing; in terms of affordable housing and tiny homes for personal sale. There is a high demand as it has greater transport links and the prospect of a primary suburban city.
Owen said it was hard to make direct comparisons to other places that had been rejuvenated because few had such an ambitious large-scale housing project, but had been inspired by other resorts that had developed a reputation as affordable havens for higher-priced creatives.
He explained: “Margate and Ramsgate [in Kent] have a mecca for other people leaving London and costs have skyrocketed.
“But I’m not sure it’s comparable because I don’t necessarily think it’s a new progression that’s causing this. “
However, Owen believes that those who will move into the Keepmoat homes in Weston-Super-Mare will come from nearby Bristol.
He added: “A giant proportion of other people buying homes, especially new homes, commute to Bristol.
“The price in Weston-Super-Mare is lower than in Bristol. So, if it’s your first time buying, you might be able to buy a two-bedroom space somewhere in South Bristol, but in reality, you might just 20 minutes down the highway to get a three-bedroom or maybe four-bedroom space and save some money. It’s a pretty straightforward decision.
Banksy said the search through the Tropicana’s fence in January 2015 encouraged him to create a dystopian theme park. But he could not have imagined that the concept would be a catalyst in a billion-pound mega-project hoping to attract wealthy Bristol families.
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