British seaside towns, Weston-super-Mare has seen better centuries. “Dismaland” was the title that Banksy, a guerrilla artist, chose for his show on the seafront in 2015. Attractions included the Grim Reaper riding the dodgems and Cinderella’s carriage in a crash. All the same, North Somerset council wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to pull in a few punters—less in a celebration of “entry-level anarchism”, as the artist put it, than a desperate stab at urban regeneration.
It is a strategy that has been adopted by both Tory- and Labour-controlled local authorities around Britain. Councils’ commercial investments, in ventures such as offices and recycling plants as well as shops, have increased sharply in recent years. Purchases of land and buildings reached almost £4bn in 2017-18 . The spree has been financed principally by borrowing from the Public Works Loan Boardpart of the Treasury established in 1793 to lend cheaply to local authorities.
Its time the people get a fair return !