A holiday park company wants to build a new lakeside complex in a former coalmining heartland which is now part of the National Forest.
Finney’s Park Homes wants to create a complex of timber lodges, static caravans and glamping pods at Swannington Lakes, near the town of Coalville, in north west Leicestershire.
Subject to planning permission, they want to build the site around former fishing lakes, along with a restaurant, bar and shop employing 14 people.
The company’s website said it would be open all year round.
Finney’s Park Homes runs a number of other leisure sites in the county and planning officers at North West Leicestershire District Council are considering the scheme.
In total 106 twin timber lodges, 82 caravans and 20 glamping units are proposed for the 58-acre woodland site.
Documents submitted to the council say the aim is to attract “more staying visitors in the National Forest by developing woodland holiday accommodation in a location that would allow cycle and pedestrian access to nearby settlements and the wider National Forest.
“Tourism is an important industry in the region and makes a significant contribution to the economy through the creation of jobs and the financial support it provides to local services and industry.
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“The timber effect of the holiday units will contribute to the woodland theme, and while removal of trees will occur as part of the development, new planting and the formation of a fishing lake will support the landscaping.”
The National Forest was set up more than 20 years ago and now spans an area stretching from Derbyshire through Leicestershire and Staffordshire, where more than 220,000 people live.
Visitor numbers are at their highest ever – 8.9 million in the year to last March – and the economic impact of tourism is worth millions.
However some residents have objected to the Finney’s Park Homes scheme, arguing the location is not sustainable for this kind of leisure use, that it would lead to unacceptable levels of traffic, and would affect public access to the area.
There are also objections to tree felling needed to clear space for the park.
One resident wrote to the council to say: “I believe this project would cause immense disruption and noise at its development stage.
“The whole project would fail in its current form and the deforested area would be open to further development after the caravan holiday parks failure to attract customers.”
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LeicestershireLive and BusinessLive contacted Finney’s for comment.