SnOasis News

View all 49 headlines for SnOasis News.

SnOasis in a nutshell:

Europe's largest indoor ski slope, 415m long, 70m wide, with a 100m vertical drop to international standard. Capacity for 2,400 skiers per hour

Nursery slope 100m long by 30m wide with 6-degree pitch

External ice rink 60m by 30m with 1,500 spectator seats

400m speed skating track

100m dry bobsleigh push start track

16m ice climbing wall

1.5km cross-country ski run

Multi purpose sports hall

Health and fitness centre

Triathlon course

Outdoor sports pitches

1.5km rollerblading track

Swimming pool

10-Pin Bowling (20 lanes)

Tennis

Rowing

Windsurfing

Sailing

Canoeing

Fishing

National Winter Sports Academy with 200-bed hostel

Medical room with first aid facilities

350 room four star hotel and conference centre, capacity for 1,000 delegates

350 self-catering holiday village style 4, 6, 8, bed ski lodges

100 one and two bedroomed apartments

Convenience store

Bank

Post Office

Nightclub

Fun ride based on a tobogganing/bobsleigh theme

17 bars and restaurants

“Try & Buy” sports retail

Saunas & Steam Rooms

Lifestyle retail

Exhibition facilities

Crèche

Skate Park

Entertainment Dome

Ice museum

Country club

[From www.eveningstar.co.uk]

Go ahead for UK’s longest indoor snow slope... nearly.

The SnOasis indoor snow centre planned for Great Blakenham in Suffolk has almost got the final go ahead after a long battle with local residents culminating with a lengthy public enquiry.

The government has given the go-ahead subject to certain environmental conditions. They have asked for more information on the centre’s carbon emissions. A final, final decision will be given by the Secretary of State for the environment by 17th September.

The SnOasis development will incorporate a 400m slope, about twice as long as the longest of the UK’s five existing, and two under construction indoor slopes. The slope will have a 100m vertical, making use of a disused quarry. Developers Onslow Suffolk say construction of the £350m ($700m US) project could now get underway this year, all being well, with completion possible by London Olympic Year, 2012.

The facility will also include an ice rink, hotels, as well as shops and apartments and create a main line railway station linking to London Liverpool Street and involve the construction of 120 affordable homes.

130,000 trees will be planted to enhance the environment in the area.

The development has been fiercely opposed by local residents close to the site and some environmental groups who say it will threaten bio-diversity in the area. Suffolk council have backed SnOasis saying it will boost the local and regional economy.

You can read the full decision.
More on the BBC News website.

www.snoasis.co.uk

A decision on whether to give the go ahead for the UK’s largest indoor slope, at Great Blakenham near Ipswich, has been put back by the UK government.

A public enquiry on SnOasis last Spring had been thought likely to deliver a verdict on the plans by the end of last year but now the UK government has asked for more information on the project’s environmental credentials from the developers.

Godfrey Spanner, managing director of the company behind the project, Onslow, told local media,

“I'm very upset, I just can't believe the position that we're in. After a full public inquiry, two public exhibitions, two years in the planning office and six months of public consultation, I find this decision quite remarkable and quite frankly absurd. The inspector went to great lengths and it was a very proper inquiry, we have done everything they've asked for.”

However protest group the SNoasis Community Alliance, which opposes SnOasis, have welcomed the delay as a good sign, they felt, that the government is looking at the proposal in what they consider is the proper detail.

We received this email from Richard Berry at winter-sports.co.uk and for those of you interested in directly supporting the SnOasis project, we thought you might be interested.

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Most of those involved in the competitive skiing arena will have been watching the progress of the SnOasis project. The public inquiry having finished in mid June the project has to overcome its final hurdle.

Although we believe the inspector will recommend approval, the Secretary of State can decide otherwise. It is therefore vital we muster as much support for the project at this time. It has taken more than 12 years to reach this point and before that I have been searching for a suitable site since 1967 when I set up the first prototype in Tunbridge Wells.

When I first went to Sport England I was told that I did not have to justify the need for a Centre of Excellence for winter sports, this had been recognised for some time. So we would hope that the Minister will consult Sport England before making a decision, but we cannot leave this to chance. We need to convince the Minister that winter sports is just as important to our competitors as football is to the rest of the population.

If you want a serious snow training facility in UK now is the time to stand up and be counted. Our sport must demand to be heard if this project fails it is unlikely that any other project will emerge for a generation.

So please support the SnOasis campaign, register your support on the website, write to the Ministers shown on the web site, snail mail had more impact that e-mail. We need your support now before the Secretary of State has a chance to consider her decision. I implore anyone with contacts within the Gordon Brown government to give us the chance to put the case. Please fill in the form on the "Have Your Say" page and let us make SnOasis a reality!

Below please find suggested wording for a letter to the Ministers whose addresses can be found on the website, please expand on our suggestions and personalise your letter.

Regards, Richard

Dear Minister,

SnOasis The references for the 3 planning applications are:- APP/W3520/V/06/1199516: APP/W3520/V/06/1199545: APP/W3520/V/06/1199546

Despite the recommendation of the Inspector at the recent inquiry into the SnOasis project, the Mid Suffolk District Council approval of the planning application, we believe, reflects the majority of residents opinion that this project should be allowed to go ahead. The council has met all the concerns of objectors in the conditions attached to the planning approval. Indeed the independent report from the DTZ clearly demonstrates the viability of the project and the overwhelming effect and support that it will have on the business fraternity within Suffolk.

A project of this kind only comes once in a lifetime, it is not only advantageous to the economy of the region but of national importance to winter sports. Skiing has suffered from cuts in finance and government support over the period of this government and with the support shown for the summer London Olympics this a chance for the winter sports to be brought in from the cold. We urge you to look at the SnOasis website to see the overwhelming support that the SnOasis project has accumulated from the commercial sector as well as the sport.

We also implore you to take heed of the advice from Sport England and the BOA who acknowledge the need for a centre of excellence in winter sports and the lack of outdoor sporting facilities within south east England in general.

Yours etc.

SnOasis, the £350 million project to create the world’s first winter sports resort, in Suffolk, has reached an important stage in its journey to reality.

While the local authority has given full approval for the plans submitted by the developer, Onslow Suffolk, the application was ‘called in’ by the office of The Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP - Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Minister for Women. As a result, a Public Inquiry has been held and this officially concludes on 18th June.

Due to the exceptional scale of the proposed development, there has been a small but vociferous opposition group who have attempted to undermine the plans. In order to help achieve a better understanding of the key issues, Onslow Suffolk recently printed a 4-page SnOasis NEWS publication for Suffolk residents. You can read the PDF version here (4mb).

The final answer from the Secretary of Sate’s office is not expected before October/November and I hope you, like the developers, are keen for a positive decision.

Opponents to SnOasis argue it will offer nothing new with increasing competition from The SnowDome Group. The enquiry is now in its seventh week. EADT reports:

THE SnOasis winter sports ski slope would offer nothing new and would have to survive in an increasingly competitive environment, a leading opponent of the development told a Government inspector today.

The inquiry resumed at Ipswich's Corn Exchange this morning into the £300 million complex which will include a giant ski slope, ice rink, casino, nightclub, hotel, restaurants, railway station, as well as hundreds of new homes at nearby Great Blakenham.

Despite gaining Mid Suffolk District Council's backing, the Government decided to call in the plans for an inquiry, now in its seventh week.

Dr Wendy Le-Las, one of the country's top environmental planning experts who represents the 13 communities opposed to the scheme, told inspector John Gray that SnOasis would be unlikely to attract visitors from abroad.


Planning inspector John Gray
She said: “SnOasis ski slope would offer nothing that is not available elsewhere, in urban areas with good communications.

“Competition is also growing. The SnowDome Group, which operates Tamworth, is opening Wycombe Snow Dome in 2008.

“The ski slope will be built on the side of Chilterns, thus minimising visual impact and the facility is within easy reach of the M40 and is 40 minutes by rail from London, as opposed to well over an hour to reach Great Blakenham station.

“The only real gain to UK plc would be if visitors went to SnOasis instead of abroad, or came in from abroad. Neither is likely.”

EADT reports that:

THE SnOasis ski dome would be one of England's tallest structures, close to the height of the London Eye, and would create a major blot on the landscape, a public inquiry has been told.

Lord Blakenham, who farms land in the area of the proposed site of the winter sports complex and is one of the country's leading businessmen and environmentalists, spoke out against the project yesterday.

If approved by the Government after the inquiry, the SnOasis complex at Great Blakenham will include a huge ski slope, ice rink, a casino, nightclub, a four star 350-bed hotel, 350 chalets and 100 apartments.

The development is part of additional plans that include more than 420 new homes, doubling the size of the village, and a new railway station.

But Lord Blakenham, who has served on the House of Lords select committee for sustainable development, told the inquiry in Ipswich that SnOasis should be refused on environmental and business grounds.

“The ski dome would be one of England's tallest structures, close to the height of the London Eye and considerably taller than St Paul's Cathedral,” he said.

“Regional planning guidelines state that tourism should not be detrimental to the environment, but the ski structure would create visual intrusion by day and light pollution by night.

“There are many listed buildings and 15 of England's finest churches within a few miles radius.”

He added: “The consequence of a collapse of the SnOasis project would not just be financial. It would leave a one-purpose building protruding more than 20 conventional stories above the ridge of one of the higher hills in Suffolk, and it would not be a simple task to take down.

“The risks are real. The Tokyo Snowdome, of exactly the same height, was forced to close for financial reasons. The Japanese are keen skiers, but nonetheless after three years the enthusiasm for the Snowdome waned and it was a long time before any organisation could be found to take on the site, as the cost of pulling it down was the equivalent of over £30m.

“There are alternative uses for the application site that could be very beneficial to Suffolk.”

The inquiry, chaired by planning inspector John Gray, yesterday also heard from John Lawson, a planning expert working for Mid Suffolk District Council who advised the inspector to support SnOasis, the new homes and railway station.

He argued that the developments would be sustainable and were consistent with the relevant national and regional planning policies.

The inquiry, at Ipswich Corn Exchange, is now in its fourteenth day and is expected to last six weeks. It continues today.

A long awaited public inquiry into the £350m SnOasis winter sports centre proposed for Eastern England resort has begun. SnOasis is likely to be one of the world’s ten largest indoor snow centres if it opens as planned with a 475m slope and an unusually big 100m vertical drop.

Barristers acting for Onslow Suffolk, the company behind SnOasis, and also for Persimmon Homes Anglia, which wants to build a 421 homes next to it argue that the facility will create jobs, develop the local and regional economy and improve infrastructure with a new railway station planned.

The proposal is supported by the local council but opposed by a group of local residents and the government ordered that a public enquiry into the plan be staged before work commenced. Opponents, The SNoasis Community Alliance, say the plans would lead to huge transport, environmental and ecological problems.

The Enquiry is expected to last to the end of February. A report will themn be compiled and the final decision to grant or refuse the development will be made by the Secretary of State for communities and local governments.

The public inquiry into the proposed SnOasis indoor snow centre development in Suffolk started last week.

The Government ordered the public inquiry after Mid Suffolk District Council gave the leisure complex, the nearby housing development and the railway station the green light, despite numerous queries over the planning process from locals.

Landscape and design experts, giving evidence said that the £300 million development will create a new 21st century landmark acting as a beacon for regeneration.

If approved by the Government, once the inspector has given his verdict after the hearing, it will include a ski-slope, a four star 350-bed hotel, 350 chalets, 100 apartments and many new jobs at nearby Great Blakenham.

It is part of a wider development including 421 new homes, doubling the size of the village, and a new railway station.

Philip Russell-Vick, a witness appearing on behalf of SnOasis developers Onslow Suffolk told the inquiry that the ski-slope would be a “highly unusual, perhaps unique, structure”.

Drifting into the flowery language of architects he claimed that “its simple angled form is a clear expression of the building's function as an artificial skiing facility.”

It is right that the inquiry goes ahead following a series of failed businesses from the same developers. As reported in Private Eye, Onslow, the company applying to build the SnOasis centre, had a separate business park project shelved and creditors informed of their rights after their subsidiary company Onlsow Ditchling Ltd was declared insolvent.

Onslow Ditchling, where top SnOasis backer Godfrey Spanner is company secretary, director and shareholder, went into administration after a major dispute with one of the company’s main suppliers, Fitzpatrick Ltd.

Although there are no direct links between Onslow Ditchling and Onslow Suffolk, meaning the Suffolk company is not financially jeopardized, the Fitzpatrick family are 51% owners, something which Spanner said would not affect his plans for SnOasis as he ‘remained on good terms’ with them.

Onslow Ditchling is the third company in two years to have been wound up under Spanner’s watch. Southern Restoration Group PLC, of which Spanner was a shareholding director and director, went into administration in February of 2004. Newhaven Property Development Company Limited was liquidated in October of that year – Spanner was company secretary and Director.

[Used with permission from Natives]

Opposition mounts to plan for £350m ski dome housing 14 winter sports.

It has been called Center Parcs on Ice; the 21st century solution to winter sports in the era of global warming amid dire predictions that climate change will spell doom for many traditional ski resorts. But a giant indoor complex in the heart of East Anglia, complete with specially manufactured snow, is not pleasing everyone.
SnOasis, a £350m project to create a snow dome in Suffolk, would include the world's largest indoor ski slope and facilities for 14 different winter sports.

Opponents say the giant refrigerated building - the height of Nelson's column - would be an eyesore that would buckle the region's creaking transport infrastructure and encroach on endangered species. The developers say SnOasis would bring 2,000 new jobs and an £80m economic dividend, improve a derelict brownfield site and develop Britain's medal winning potential in winter sports. The two sides will give evidence at a six-week public inquiry which begins tomorrow.
Godfrey Spanner, managing director of developers Onslow Suffolk, said SnOasis would become a focus for athletes' training and had won the backing of the British skiing team, as well as support from the British Olympic Association and the sports minister, Richard Caborn. The developers hope the bulldozers will be able to move on to the site later this year.

SnOasis will also target the leisure market. The hard times being experienced by snow-starved resorts makes the proposition even more timely, he believes. "They are importing 4,000 tonnes of snow at Kitzbühel in Austria for next week's world cup downhill and Scotland has almost been wiped out this season from a skiing point of view. People are reluctant to book ahead for foreign ski holidays but we can be available all year round."

SnOasis would cover a 120 hectare (300 acre) site in a former quarry and cement works at Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, and be rivalled only by Ski Dubai, an indoor resort with five ski runs. SnOasis would be larger, with a slope 100 metres high and 500 metres long, an ice rink, bobsleigh and speed skating tracks, and a 16 metre ice climbing wall. Its national winter sports academy would include 100 apartments and a 200 bed hostel, there would be 350 self-catering chalets and a 350-room four star hotel and conference centre.

"We have spent over £12m so far and the business plan is robust," said Mr Spanner, who anticipates 650,000 visitors a year. "There are four snow domes in England but there is nowhere where you can stay for three or four days. It will bring people to the area from all over the country."

Konrad Bartelski, who was one of Britain's most successful downhill racers, has lent his support and points to the success of Ski Dubai. "It has recreated the experience of going on to a mountain ... kids who have never seen snow have been making snowmen and playing snowballs." Clive Thomas, chairman of the Suffolk branch of the Institute of Directors, said: "It is a rare opportunity to bring inward investment to Suffolk ... if it does not go ahead it would be a disastrous day for Suffolk."

The idea faces opposition at the inquiry from the SnOasis Community Alliance formed by councils, residents and the Suffolk Preservation Society. John Williams, the alliance's chairman, said: "There is an overall feeling that Suffolk's attractiveness to tourists is that it is a place to get away to - not a place for big brash developments more suited to sites adjacent to large highly populated conurbations."

Peter Welham, another campaigner, said the alliance was not against development but thought it was the wrong development in the wrong place. The alliance disputes the description of the site as brownfield - although the entrance sits between a landfill tip and underground fuel tanks for the nearby RAF Wattisham. Nearly a third of the site is arable land, lakes and reclaimed grasslands, home to wildlife and surrounded by a special landscape area. An abandoned chalk tunnel nearby contains one of the largest bat roosts in Britain with up to 12,000 bats, including the endangered pond bat, only once before recorded in Britain.

The alliance, which has raised more than £100,000 to field its own barrister and expert witnesses at the inquiry, is most opposed to having an eyesore towering above the villages of Great Blakenham and Claydon. Members claim the main dome, despite being partially hidden in the former quarry, will stand 73 metres (242ft) above surrounding land, higher than 14 double decker buses stacked up.

Alliance member Ken Southall, who has helped fly the SnOasis protest balloon above the site to indicate the height and produced illustrations showing the likely visual intrusion of the structure, said: "It is not nimbyism. Collectively all 15 parish councils are concerned. The skyline will be ruined, and for ever."

Residents against the construction of the world's biggest indoor ski slope at Great Blakenham say they are prepared to raise more than £100,000 to fund their campaign to stop it.

The group leading the charge against SnOasis say the predicted bill for their legal team and experts at a public inquiry into the £350million project is rising by the day and now looks likely to reach into “six figures”.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has today announced that she will be calling in the SnOasis planning application and that it will be subject to a Public Inquiry. The project would create a year round winter sports experience in the form of a themed activity resort for the whole family, and a winter sports centre of excellence for athletes in training.

Godfrey Spanner, Managing Director of Onslow Suffolk Ltd said: “This is a very disappointing outcome. I am surprised by the Secretary of State’s comments that SnOasis gives ‘rise to substantial regional controversy’. Nothing could be further from the truth. SnOasis was backed by thousands of people from across the region and also has the backing of EERA, EEDA, EETB, SDA, Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council and Somersham and Nettlestead Parish Councils as well as national bodies such as the British Olympic Association, Visit Britain and Snowsport GB.’

“A public inquiry could take up to two years and such a delay could be very costly, threatening the whole project. It also puts in jeopardy SnOasis’ ability to contribute to the region’s 2012 Olympic offering,” said Godfrey Spanner. “We remain committed to our vision for this site and this project, and will make the strongest case possible at the forthcoming Public Inquiry”.

The development would create 2,000 permanent new jobs, as well as providing new leisure and recreational facilities for local people. It is estimated 750,000 people would visit the destination each year yielding an annual injection of over £80 million into the local economy.

SnOasis is a development to create the biggest indoor ski slope in the world in Great Blakenham, Suffolk. The snow slope will be at the heart of a year-round Center Parcs-style family leisure resort focusing on winter sports. As well as the ski slope, there will be facilities for 13 other winter sports, including snow boarding, ice hockey, speed skating, ice and dry climbing walls, bobsleigh, luge and cross-country skiing. There will also be water sports, health and fitness centres, restaurants, bars, casinos, nightclubs, cinemas, and many other sports. The destination will also provide accommodation with 350 self catering chalets, a 350 room 4-star hotel and a 200 bed hostel.

Security is to be beefed up around a balloon protesting against the SnOasis indoor ski slope after its huge helium predecessor mysteriously escaped and floated over the North Sea.

On Sunday, 18th June, over 200 people attended the launch of the sNOasis Concern balloon in a field close to the site of the proposed indoor slope. The launch was extensively covered by TV and local media and according to sNOasis Concern prompted calls from concerned residents in the surrounding area.

However just over 24 hours after the launch of the balloon, it was sabotaged and set free at around 7pm on Monday.

“The balloon was securely tethered in a remote wheat field near to the proposed SnOasis site. Suffolk police are investigating and a trail was found leading through the wheat in the direction of the former Blue Circle quarry where SnOasis is being planned,” said a statement on the sNOasis Concern website.

Keith Willetts, chairman of sNOasis Concern said "we aren't going to be silenced. Clearly there are people out there who are very worried by the truth about SnOasis coming out but we will not be intimidated - we will continue to tell the truth about SnOasis and bring home to the people of Suffolk just how bad this development is going to be for the area."

The £320m Snoasis Development intends to create what the company behind it, Onslow Suffolk, states will be the 'ultimate all-year-round winter sports resort' with the world's biggest indoor ski slope as its centrepiece. They say that the complex is expected to create up to 3,000 jobs and contribute at least £70 million to the region's economy. It has been approved by local planners and is now being considered by the Go East authority, the proposed opening date in 2009.

Both sides for and against the proposal are calling for public support.

www.snoasisconcern.com / www.snoasis.co.uk

Opponents of the SnOasis development in Suffolk launched a blimp on Sunday to show people the height of the planned indoor slope and its impact on the local skyline.

A new railway station serving the proposed SnOasis indoor ski resort at Great Blakenham in Suffolk, England would be a success, according to Britain's rail line agency, Network Rail. The planned Great Blakenham railway station would reduce rail journey times from London to the new ski resort to 70 minutes.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said: "We have given our support for this scheme now. We had to look at the business case and impact on the existing railway. We're satisfied there is a sound business case behind this. We do think it is a viable option."

SnOasis developers Onslow Suffolk has applied to build the station, which it estimates would cost £13million. A shuttle bus service would take passengers to and from the station and the ski resort, which aims to become the world's biggest indoor ski resort attracting about 820,000 people each year.

The developers would meet the costs of the station's construction but Network Rail would retain ownership of the railway lines, surrounding infrastructure and signalling.

An article on the Evening Star 24 includes the five criteria that government representatives of the Deputy Prime Minister will be looking at to decide whether the plans need to go before a public enquiry. These are, would the development:

1. conflict with national policies on important matters
   
2. have significant effects beyond the immediate locality
   
3. give rise to substantial regional or national controversy
   
4. raise significant architectural and urban design issues
   
5. involve the interests of national security or of foreign governments

Local residents have also formed a lobby group called SnOasis Concern as they fear SnOasis would have massive negative impacts on the Great Blakenham area.

[Full story at Evening Star 24]

At last SnOasis, the winter sports resort has received planning permission from Mid Suffolk District Council. The application was first made two years ago and has taken all of this time for agreement to be reached over the environmental impact assessment which has led to an extensive "106", which are conditions to be adhered to in the construction.

There is still much opposition to the project as we've reported recently. Approval is still required from the government office of the East of England who in turn will recommend to the Deputy Prime Minister’s office whether or not a public inquiry should be held.

If you believe, as SCUK do, of the importance of this project to winter sports, then now is the time to act. A decision will be taken within the next two and a half weeks and SnOasis are asking for as much support as you can give. The opposition is such that the silent majority which support SnOasis must be heard. It therefore needs everyone involved with winter sports to write to the authorities to demonstrate that the overwhelming support has a voice and wants SnOasis to be built.

Below are the people to contact. If you email, then please copy in snoasis@winter-sports.co.uk in your response.

Brian Hackland
Regional Director
Government Office for the East of England
Eastbrook
Shaftesbury Road
Cambridge
CB2 2DF
tel: 01223 372500
fax: 01223 372501
email: brian.hackland@goeast.gsi.gov.uk

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Eland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5DU
Email: dc@odpm.gsi.gov.uk

Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP, Minister for Sport
Department for Culture Media & Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London, SW1Y 5DH
richard.caborn@culture.gsi.gov.uk

With details of the Council vote, the next step and how a public inquiry could be disasterous for the project and their aim to be complete by the 2012 London Olympics.

A report on EADT24 reads:

Campaigners fighting to stop SnOasis say it will be a ghastly blot on the landscape and devastate a beautiful area of rural Suffolk.

Councillors were shown images of the complex jutting 73 metres high into the Suffolk skyline and were told of people's fears that the amount of light generated would mean some local villages may never again truly enjoy night-time.

Read the whole story here

Green light for SnOasis
Posted Friday 21st April 2006, 12:55 pm by Dunx[DIRECT LINK]  

Mid Suffolk District Council has today approved an application to build a £350 million winter sports leisure resort near Great Blakenham, Suffolk. The decision follows a five-year preparation period in which the developer behind the scheme, Onslow Suffolk Limited, has invested more than £12 million in exploring the viability, economic impact, landmark design and environmental acceptance of such a unique concept.

The planning application will now be considered by the Government Office for East of England before final approval can be given.

'Climbing Mount Everest is an ambition I am now unable to dream of, but SnOasis has been a challenge of very similar proportions" said Godfrey Spanner, CEO of Onslow Suffolk, today. "We knew because of the extraordinary nature of the proposition, this would present the authorities with an unprecedented challenge, but I am delighted that after careful consideration, the MSDC has approved our exciting proposals. I hope now that GO East and the Deputy Prime Minister will also support our plans and not call it in. The delay caused by a call in would be disastrous for us, delaying the project a further two years, costing millions more and missing the opportunity of the 2012 Olympics".

SnOasis, which is to be built on the site of a derelict quarry four miles north of Ipswich, will offer all-year facilities for all to enjoy up to 14 winter sports in a secure, all-found environment with complementary facilities including accommodation for 3,600, gyms, restaurants and golf. At the centre of the resort will be the world's largest indoor ski and board slope with a vertical drop of 100 metres and half a kilometre in length, broadening to 80 metres at the base. In a resort where fresh snow is guaranteed every day, an academy of excellence will ensure the discovery and development of the nation's best winter sports medal hopefuls while holidaymakers will be able to follow their passion without having to travel to all corners of the globe.

Local business backs SnOasis
Posted Thursday 20th April 2006, 9:56 am by Dunx[DIRECT LINK]  

Suffolk Council meet today to decide whether SnOasis gets past the next planning hurdle. The Evening Star reports that local businesses overwhelmingly back the controversial development at Great Blakenham. Read more...

Read the whole story here

Do you want SnOasis?
Posted Tuesday 18th April 2006, 5:19 pm by Dunx[DIRECT LINK]  

The East Anglian Daily Times are currently running a poll to see whether you think Councilers should give their backing to the project when they meet this Thursday. You could make a difference.

Read the whole story here

Council planners back SnOasis
Posted Saturday 8th April 2006, 2:37 pm by Dunx[DIRECT LINK]  

Plans for a massive £320 million indoor winter sports and holiday complex in Suffolk have been backed by planning officers.

Mid Suffolk District Council published a 400-page report which concluded that the SnOasis development at Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, should be granted outline planning permission.

[Full article on EADT 24]

Councillors will then vote on the project on April 20. It will then have to be approved by government officers in the region.

Suffolk takes on Dubai with plan for £350m alps
Posted Monday 20th March 2006, 4:38 pm by Dunx[DIRECT LINK]  

The Observer reports that environmentalists protest at loss of countryside.

The article reads:

Suffolk's low-lying landscape will become a Mecca for Britain's burgeoning army of skiers and snowboarders if plans for the world's biggest indoor winter sports centre go ahead.
Developers hope to persuade Britons to exchange the rugged appeal of the Alps for the unlikely location of a disused quarry near Ipswich that is earmarked to become a £350m 'destination resort' for snow sports enthusiasts. A 500m ski slope, the country's only permanent ice-climbing wall, artificial snow and 14 winter sports including bobsleigh and cross-country skiing are among attractions intended to draw 725,000 visitors a year to the proposed SnOasis development.

Resorts providing year-round skiing are increasingly popular, but controversial. Environmentalists claim that at a time when global warming is reducing snowfalls in the Alps, such centres waste huge amounts of energy creating snow-filled sets designed to look like mountains and hills. The massive Ski Dubai resort, which opened in the desert of the Gulf state last year, was heavily criticised for that reason, and for encouraging many of its visitors to come by plane.

Great Britain's ski team, who train abroad, will make SnOasis their full-time base if it is approved. Sports minister Richard Caborn said it 'would provide a winter sports centre of excellence for people in the local community, athletes and young people with the potential to become international and Olympic champions'. Former downhill skier Konrad Bartelski, chairman of selectors for the Snowsport GB Alpine ski team, said it would be 'a major asset for the UK both in terms of sporting excellence but also as an international tourism destination'.

The scheme could yet be derailed by local protests against the loss of countryside, increased traffic caused by visitors, plans to build 500 houses as part of the development and its impact on protected species including bats and newts. The Suffolk branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and some villagers have lodged objections.

Supporters of the plan believe it would attract some of the increasing number of Britons taking cheap flights to Europe for snow sports. Godfrey Spanner of Onslow Suffolk, the company behind SnOasis, said it would appeal to many of the 4.6 million Britons who ski or snowboard. 'We hope to attract people who take short breaks either abroad or at places like Center Parcs, others who use dry slopes around the country to practise skiing, schools which usually take pupils on skiing trips abroad, and the corporate bonding market, as the resort also has a 1,000-seater conference centre.'

Mid-Suffolk council's planning committee will decide on 20 April whether to approve the plan for 350 acres at Great Blakenham. Planning consultant John Lawson, whom the council hired to analyse the plans, said members were 'certainly interested' in the potential to create some 1,500 jobs in the area.

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View all 49 headlines for SnOasis.