SnOasis


SnOasis is a proposed indoor winter sports resort in Great Blakenham near Ipswich. It is planned be the largest real snow indoor ski slope in the world with a 415 metre long slope, 70 metre wide run, and a 100 metre drop; accommodating 1000 skiers per hour: the overall ski area of SnOasis will be more than double that of any other indoor ski slope in the world.
The project is being promoted by Onslow Suffolk Ltd with a budget of £300 million and would create around 1800 new jobs in the local area once fully open, and 3500 jobs created during the construction phase. There is a separate proposal to build 537 new homes adjacent to the site. The scheme is being opposed by SnOasis Community Alliance which represents 11 town and parish councils and by SnOasis Concern.

History

The site was acquired in 2001 and planning permission was applied for in 2004. Local planning permission for the project was granted on 21 April 2006 and public inquiry was announced on 26 July 2006 which upheld the decision, subject to conditions. Final government approval was granted by Hazel Blears on 6 November 2008 concluding that all the conditions had been met. Construction work cannot start until Natural England, a government agency, issues a licence to move the wildlife.
The majority shareholder of the scheme in 2008 was an Irish private equity group First Equity Group, which owned 70% of Onslow Suffolk with debt funding provided by Allied Irish Bank. The managing director was Godfrey Spanner.
In January 2011 the promoters said that construction would start in 'late 2011'. However, the leader of Mid-Suffolk District Council has stated that the scheme is highly unlikely to go ahead.
In February 2011, Mr Spanner was found guilty by the High Court in February 2011 of wrongful trading in a separate venture, Onslow Ditchling Ltd, of which he was a director which had been liquidated with debts of £900,000. The judge, Mr Justice Norris, said Mr Spanner and the other director of Onslow Ditchling Ltd showed "wilfully blind optimism" and "reckless belief". Mr Spanner says that the verdict will have no impact on Snoasis and that he is appealing the verdict. Mr Spanner was declared bankrupt in March 2012 and no longer has any link with Onslow Suffolk.
As of April 2011 a number of planning issues were still outstanding and the predicted opening date had been put back to November 2014.
By February 2013, Godfrey Spanner, manager for the SnOasis project, said he was confident that once a business plan on the new railway station on the site is completed, work can start and will be finished by 2016.
In November 2016, the developer stated that he hoped SnOasis would be open in 2020 and that "It will become a reality" as £20m had already been spent on the project. He explained that once SnOasis is built, it would be home to 14 winter sports, the world's largest snow dome, and the UK's first speed skating circuit.
On 16 November 2016 the Mid Suffolk Council confirmed that it had registered and was considering an application to satisfy all outstanding matters and that a final decision by its Committee was due in 2017 following a recommendation by the Council's planning manager, Steven Stroud. By 2018, the scheme remains undetermined.
, Godfrey Spanner is listed as the contact on the SnOasis website.
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Mid Suffolk District Council used emergency delegated powers to approve the Snoasis development to proceed.

Features

The resort will include various indoor and outdoor activities to suit a range of age groups.

Winter sports

Some 600,000 visitors are expected per year with 2000 parking spaces provided on the site itself and a new railway station at Great Blakenham on the Great Eastern Main Line with a further 500 spaces. The main access routes by car will via the A12 from the south and the A14 from the west. A12 traffic will join the A14 briefly at the Copdock roundabout which would be improved.

Employment

The developers estimate that the scheme will create 3,500 jobs during the construction phase and 1,800 when it is operational. That will also be offering an array of skills and training initiatives.

Opposition concerns

Traffic

Concern has been expressed by some local residents over potential traffic congestion. They stated that the traffic modelling at the Copdock Roundabout was unrealistic and was based on only 737,000 visitors in first year and 825,000 in the second without sufficient sensitivity testing for higher traffic levels. They also expressed concern about the potential for traffic from the south to 'rat run' through Sproughton saying this had not been considered.
The developers plan to pay for improvements to the Copdock intersection of the A12 and A14.

Biodiversity

Part of the site is in a Special Landscape Area designated a County Wildlife Site by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and protected great crested newts and badgers will have to be moved as part of the planning agreement.
The Suffolk Wildlife Trust objected on the basis that there would be a "significant loss to biodiversity".
Natural England objected from the start saying that insufficient measures to protect great crested newts on the site.
The developers say they will be creating a ecological mitigation area.

Damage to the rural nature of the area

It was stated that the huge development would be out of character with the rural location with increased noise, air and light pollution with a negative effect on tranquillity in the area although they are adding 140,000 trees in.

Climate change

sNOasis Concern estimate that the SnOasis site and its visitors are likely to generate at least 34,000 tons of CO2 per annum exacerbating climate change and that the proposed of woodland will only cover 10% of the emissions.
The developers claim that 75% of their energy will come from renewable sources include a large-scale woodchip burner and a proposed "energy from waste" incinerator on land adjacent to the site is also proposed and they also plan to plant 130,000 trees to act as a carbon sink.