Major update on plans for 120 holiday lodges and swimming pool near Neath

Plans for a new holiday resort containing 120 high-end lodges have been submitted to Neath Port Talbot Council for consideration. The proposal for a site located on the northern slopes of the Pelenna Forest, overlooking the Vale of Neath near Tonna, were handed into the local planning authority in August by developer, The Urbanists, on behalf of Trivselhus UK Holdings Limited.

They include proposals for a new holiday resort named Parc Pelenna which could eventually be made up of 120 lodges with a leisure building, pool, new access road and parking facilities, along with associated infrastructure on land off Fairyland Road. The site is said to be made up of approximately 24.2 hectares of upland located 2km from the outskirts of Neath near the B4434 where it currently includes commercial forestry as well as a former quarry and grazing land which is said to be used occasionally for shooting parties.

“The project will create a private leisure development that will include holiday lodges and supporting facilities. The proposal is designed to complement the wider natural leisure offer of the Vale of Neath, the adjacent Brecon Beacons National Park, and south Wales valleys landscape,” the report read. It added that “the development is proposed to meet a demand for high-end tourism accommodation in a location that is integrated within the local area’s natural assets and respects the local historic assets and special landscape character.”

The full application comes just months after a pre-planning application for the site which was submitted earlier in 2024 as well as previous applications dating back to 2012. The plans are the latest in a series of planning requests for holiday accommodation in the Neath Port Talbot area following the approval of multi-million-pound proposals for an adventure resort in the Afan Valley as well as plans for a huge hotel and leisure complex at a run-down country estate between Resolven and Cwmgwrach.

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