Concern over scale of tree-felling at resort
Planners ask Center Parcs for more detail about €233m holiday village in forest
THE €233m Center Parcs resort planned for the Midlands has suffered a planning setback.
After receiving 72 observations and objections from locals living close to the proposed site at Newcastle Woods on the outskirts of Ballymahon, Longford County Council has asked the UK-based holiday firm for additional information before it proceeds any further with the company’s planning application.
The firm, which runs luxury resorts across Europe, lodged its planning application with Longford County Council last October and the local authority was due to make a decision by 3 January.
But two weeks before the New Year deadline, the council wrote to Center Parcs, on 18 December, asking for further information.
If the company does not provide this information by next June, then its planning application will be deemed to have been withdrawn and it would then have to submit an entirely new application if it wanted to continue with its plans to build a resort on the scenic woodland site in County Longford.
However, even though it has been given six months to reply to the queries raised by Longford County Council, Center Parcs is expected to provide a detailed response within the next few weeks.
The holiday village firm wants to build its first ever resort in Ireland on forestry lands owned by the national forestry agency Coillte. When up and running, it says the tourist attraction will provide 1,000 jobs as well as an additional €32m in spin-off revenue to the local economy. Meanwhile, it has been claimed that an estimated additional 750 workers will be involved in its construction and when completed the resort will cater for 2,500 guests.
According to plans submitted to Longford County Council, the development on the 164 hectares site will include 470 holiday lodges, a three-storey 30-bedroom apartment block, swimming pool, water rides, outdoor rapids, sports hall, bowling alley, shops, restaurants, an outdoor activity centre, as well as an aqua sauna spa.
But Longford County Council has raised concerns about how much of the site’s woodlands will be destroyed in order to build the multi-million-euro resort. It is also seeking clarification about how peat will be excavated and stored on the site during and after the building work.
And as a result of issues raised by the Inland Fisheries Ireland about discharges from the holiday village into local water supplies, the council has also asked Center Parcs to provide information about the type of underground collection pipes it plans to use as well as data on discharges from the site.
This weekend a spokesman for Center Parcs said the company was not surprised that the local authority had requested further information from it. The spokeswoman added: ‘Center parcs confirms that it is replying to a request for additional information from Longford County Council as part of its planning application to seek approval for the development of a €233 million forest holiday village in Newcastle Wood.
‘With a project of this scale, requests for further information are standard practice and Center Parcs will be replying to it as a matter of priority, in accordance with the planning guidelines.’
‘How peat will be excavated and stored’