Inside the UK's new £250m adventure holiday resort with waterpark

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An aerial image of the planned Wildfox Resort (Image: Powell Dobson Architects)
An aerial image of the planned Wildfox Resort (Image: Powell Dobson Architects)

Work has started on a massive new £250m adventure holiday resort being built in the UK.

The first steps towards creating Wildfox Resort in the Afan Valley, Wales, are now underway but it's a major project with the bosses saying it won't be ready until 2027. To get things started, fences and temporary footpath closures are being created around the development site in the upper Afan valley.

The resort will be spread over 132 hectares near the border between Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend County Borough. A letter from local councils and the developer, Wildfox Resorts, is being sent to local residents to let them know about the temporary changes needed to keep everyone safe. As the building work happens in stages, more footpaths might need to close temporarily, but they'll be open again once all the work is done.

Inside the UK's new £250m adventure holiday resort with waterpark eiqehiqqhiqurinvWhat the trail and lodges planned at Wildfox Resort will look like (Powell Dobson Architects)

This will be the first resort developed by new company - Wildfox Resorts Group - and when it finally opens, guests will be accommodated in 570 lodges and 130 apartments and rooms, while enjoying a wide range of indoor and outdoor adventure activities such as wild swimming, mountain biking, hiking, canyoning, bouldering and more. The project received planning permission from Neath Port Talbot Council last year, reports Wales Online.

Cllr Huw David, who leads Bridgend Council, shared: "This hugely ambitious development will be a catalyst for a new wave of employment and tourism in the south Wales valleys. The resort is set to employ around 1,000 people in addition to the jobs that will be generated during its construction phase, and with access routes running through both the Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend County Borough areas, it will offer plenty of supplier, training and investment opportunities.

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Inside the UK's new £250m adventure holiday resort with waterparkArtist's impression of the Afan Valley resort which will include a hotel, lodges and outdoor pursuits (Wildfox Resorts)

"The temporary fencing and footpath closures are necessary in order to ensure that construction can proceed safely and to protect residents. Every effort will be made to minimise inconvenience and avoid disruption while the resort is being built, and all public rights of way will be reinstated again as soon as possible."

Set in the beautiful Afan Valley, is set to give guests a special mix of adventures with great views. Wildfox Resorts Group wants to make resorts where families can make "memorable experiences", the group says. Afan Valley is set to be the first of three exciting new resorts in the UK. It will boast two amazing zip wires for stunning views of the valley, canyoning and coasteering experiences - a first in the UK, cosy forest lodges and more.

Inside the UK's new £250m adventure holiday resort with waterparkMartin Bellamy, who is a director of Wildfox Resorts Afan Valley Ltd and merchant banking firm Salamanca Group, which is taking the project forward (Piranha Photography)

The resort will be nestled seven miles north east of Port Talbot, between the communities of Cymmer, Caerau, Croeserw and Duffryn Rhondda.

Rom Preston-Ellis

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