CENTER PARCS has revealed plans for a huge new £86million expansion of one its resorts.
The Longford resort confirmed they had been given planning permission to build 189 new lodges across three zones next to the park.
Currently home to 466 self-catering lodges and 30 apartments, the improvement will allow up to 3,5000 guests at the tourist village.
It will also extend the Subtropical Swimming Paradise and Squa Sana Spa, which will have a new treetop sauna.
And new sauna and pods will be added along with a lakeside restaurant and coffee shop.
The sports hall and existing restaurants and cafes will also be extended.
An “energy centre” will also be installed with new heating systems and solar panels along with an improvement to the wastewater facilities.
An Bord Pleanála, Ireland’s planning body, gave the approval after saying the extension would “not adversely affect protected conservation areas” nor would it adversely affect local traffic of ecology.
However, the park must operate shuttle buses twice a week from the nearby train stations to the resort to encourage tourists to use public transport.
A statement reads: “Center Parcs has a long standing and acknowledged track record of positively improving the natural environment of its woodland sites, enhancing biodiversity and safeguarding the forest through increased deciduous woodland cover and implementing well-informed management programmes and practices.”
It isn’t clear when work will start, or when the expansion will finish.
Center Parcs Longford opened in 2019, after a four-year, £212million build.
The 400-acre attraction is home to the largest standalone spa in Ireland, with the adults-only area having 21 different experiences.
And the Subtropical Swimming Paradise is the largest indoor waterpark in Ireland as well.
The pool is heated to 29.5C all year, with private cabanas, pools and slides.
And Center Parcs has revealed a number of new attractions set to open.
A sixth park is hoping to open in the UK, after plans to open one in Crawley were scrapped.
There are currently five Center Parcs sites in the UK – Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Whinfell Forest in Cumbria’s Lake District, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk and Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire.
Founded in the Netherlands in 1968, the newest Center Parcs is set to open in Denmark in 2025, the first for the country.
Earlier this year, Center Parcs changed its rules to allow teenagers to take holidays without older supervision.
Previous rules enforced bookers to be 21 or over, but this has been changed to just 18-years-old.
Here’s how you can save more than £500 on your next Center Parcs holiday.
