Adventure resort could help attract

LIZ BRADFIELD looks at the progress of the potential £130 million adventure resort planned for South Wales

PLANS for the £130 million Afan Valley Adventure Resort are expected to go before councillors on the local authority’s planning committee in the new year.

The outline planning application involves 600 holiday lodges, a 100-bed hotel, a vast range of adventure activities, restaurants and parking for around 850 cars.

The major tourism development would be built on a 325acre former forestry plantation at Pen-y-bryn by Croeserw and Cymmer.

Those behind the plans say 535 full-time jobs would be created throughout the twoyear build-period and once operational in 2021, the resort would directly employ 970 full and part-time staff.

It is anticipated that a large proportion of the workforce would live locally.

The resort would be the “UK’S first adventure holiday resort of its kind”, catering for stays between three and seven days, and offering a range of on-site activities.

It is forecast that there will be around 5,000 visitors per week – 260,000 per year.

The activities range from alpine sports and water sports to rock climbing and bike trails.

Applicants say the resort would also provide a home to the Bear Grylls Survival Academy.

The plans include a number of restaurants and cafes, shops and a single screen cinema.

The project is the brainchild of Peter Moore – the man who first brought Center Parcs to the UK – and Gavin Woodhouse, chairman of Northern Powerhouse Developments.

The site – entirely within the jurisdiction of Neath Port Talbot Council – is set at the southern edge of the Afan Forest Park, a tourist attraction for mountain biking, leisure cycling, and walking.

The masterplan creates four adrenaline-fuelled activity zones connected to a central plaza.

The four villages – Alpine, Forest, X-sports and Trax n Trails – would be set around a central plaza.

The holiday lodges include two, three and four-bedroom options and will be designed to reflect the theme of the village in which they are located.

Initially 400 lodges would be provided with the remaining 200 being provided at a later date.

The applicant’s design statement states that the concept for the buildings is to “knit with the existing landscape as much as possible allowing the development to be very much a part of its natural setting”.

It states that building heights will be kept to a minimum with lodges in the main being single storey with a few two storey ones.

The central plaza and hotel would be two/three-storey structures.

The plans involve using the existing topography for the three ski runs.

The applicants say the resort would operate in a similar manner to places such as Center Parcs and Bluestone with guests arriving on Mondays or Fridays and staying for three, four or seven days.

They say around 50 daily passes will be provided to local people except on change over days (Mondays and Fridays) while there will be an allocation of about 100 daily passes available to non-local day visitors.

The site has previously gained planning permission for a holiday lodges, hotel and leisure complex scheme which has subsequently been renewed on several occasions.

The planning statement submitted as part of the application states: “These consents have since lapsed and were granted prior to the applicant acquiring an interest in the site.

“These current proposals are significantly more developed than previous schemes that have gone before, prior to the applicant acquiring an interest and have the backing of a number of high profile operators who are to form part of the overall offer on the site including Land Rover, Bear Grylls Survival Academy and Youtube World.”

It adds: “The vision has been developed to take advantage of the stunning topography and wider landscape setting for the resort.”

According to the application papers visitors would be able to leave the site during their stay and take advantage of other sporting activities not offered by the resort such as