Ground-breaking high octane adventure resort dreamed up by Yorkshire firm gets the go-ahead

Northern Powerhouse Developments is delighted to announce its ground-breaking Afan Valley Adventure Resort has been granted outline planning consent.
Bear GryllsBear Grylls
Bear Grylls

Neath Port Talbot Council has unanimously confirmed the decision, which will allow plans for the site to take a major step forward.

Located in the heart of South Wales, amidst the rolling hills and valleys, the Afan Valley Adventure Resort will transform a 450-acre site into an exhilarating adventure playground, where visitors can indulge in high-octane activities and enjoy total relaxation.

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Split into four activity zones: Alpine, Forest, Trails and Xtreme, the resort will be home to everything from downhill skiing to watersports; high-wire forest adventures to mountain biking and off-road driving experiences; white water rafting to surfing and zorbing and will home to the Bear Grylls Survival Academy.

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Bear Grylls

It will also include 600 luxury guest lodges, a 100-bedroom hotel, with a state-of-the-art spa offering the latest spa experiences and therapies and a central plaza, boasting a range of bars and restaurants, specialist retail opportunities, challenging indoor activities and a tropical water paradise.

It will be the only resort in the UK which brings together such a range of adrenalin-tingling challenges in the one resort and aims to cater for the ever-growing demand for activity-based holidays. 

Afan Valley Adventure Resort has already attracted an impressive number of high-profile partners, from Jaguar Land Rover to Neuman Aqua, from Go Ape! to Snowflex, and will be home to the Bear Grylls Survival Academy. Europe’s leading resort organisation, Landal Greenparks, will handle reservations for the 365 day a year, short-break resort.

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The project is led by NPD Chairman of Leisure, Peter Moore OBE, basd in Elland, Yorkshire, whose many achievements in the leisure sector include bringing Center Parcs to the UK. He played a pivotal role in the initial design of Afan Valley Adventure Resort and he will now see it through to development.

He said: “We are absolutely delighted that outline planning has been granted for this project, which will be one of the most exciting leisure experiences to be added to the British tourism scene and a major boost for tourism in this stunning part of Wales.

“Visit Wales has identified that the market is seeking new tourism experiences and destinations of distinctiveness. Afan Valley Adventure Resort is such a destination and it will bring very significant benefits to the region.

“Many people have worked tirelessly to bring the resort to this stage, both at NPD and in our consultants’ team, who have worked closely with the local planning authority and national bodies in Wales.

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“It has been an enormous team effort to bring something exceptional to Wales and we can now look forward to delivering a state-of-the-art resort, in a truly breath-taking location.”

During the two-year construction phase, the resort will create the equivalent of 535 fulltime jobs and once open, it will create the equivalent of some 850 full-time, permanent jobs, with part-time positions, delivering substantial and much-needed economic and social benefits, to the local communities”.

NPD Chairman Gavin Woodhouse added: “We are extremely excited to now see this development come to life in this part of Wales, further raising the profile of tourism in this part of the country. The resort will deliver a major economic impact to the Afan Valley and we are already looking to partnering with schools and colleges in the area to provide training opportunities.”

Once all ‘reserved matters’ have been finalised, the NPD project team is optimistic that they will be able to commence work on site around mid-2020, with the construction programme taking some 24 months.

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