Hundreds of holiday lodges, a wedding venue and even a microbrewery are to be built at one of Cornwall’s top golf courses as it looks to widen its appeal beyond golfers.
St Mellion International Resort, near Saltash, has been granted full planning permission for the first phase of a plan which will see it construct 27 lodges, a wedding venue, a “kids' club” and tennis court.
Cornwall Council has also granted outline planning permission for further development including 203 holiday lodges and a reception building which would include a farm shop, microbrewery and artisan bakery.
Resort owner Crown Golf described the St Mellion, with its international standard course, as the "jewel in the crown" of the company's portfolio.
It said: "The level of our ambition is high. We want to establish St Mellion as the best, most sought-after and aspirational family friendly resort in Cornwall."
The company said that since it acquired the resort it has extended its 80-bed hotel and Kernow golf course. It said these improvements have further cemented the resort's reputation amongst golfers claiming the Jack Nicklaus-designed course is on the "bucket list" of many golfers. However the company is now looking to extend the appeal of the resort to more general visitors.
It said: "The St Mellion resort is focused on this narrow market sector and it looks, sounds and acts like a golf-centric leisure facility. In its current form it does not offer a wider leisure resource, perhaps one more representative of its location in Cornwall which is one of the most established and desirable holiday locations in the 海角视频."
The firm added: "As well as being a golf resort, it has a growing wedding and conference/events business. However, this is limited in its scope by the quality of the current provision.
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"The opportunity for business growth at St Mellion is significant. Last year, it is estimated that 4.5million people visited Cornwall on holiday, adding some £1.8billion to the local economy.
“With the growth of the 海角视频 staycation market up a third on last year and with 59 million staycations booked in 2018, this is a massive market that Crown Golf could do more to tap into.
"Currently, St Mellion appeals to the golf market but little else. It is not configured to appeal to the very lucrative family holiday market due to the type of accommodation, facilities and services currently on offer."
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A vision statement submitted with plans said: "Currently, the hotel and existing holiday cottage accommodation on-site at St Mellion would be largely overlooked by the family holiday market sector.
“The hotel, as currently presented, is not family-friendly or inviting; there are little, or no, children friendly facilities or services and it is very golf dominated which will put off people who are not that way inclined.
"A high-quality cedar wood holiday lodge development at St Mellion offers a way to address this gap in the market. A master planned and well executed holiday lodge development would be attractive to families looking for a traditional self-catered Cornish holiday."
Under the plans the company aims to built 230 wood lodges, ranging from two to four bedrooms in size. The lodges would be sold with owners paying a pitch fee and service charge to the resort.
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The planned reception building would have a farm shop which would be open to neighbours and visitors as well as people staying at the site.
And there are plans for a wedding and events "barn" which would "create a new luxury and characterful wedding venue to take the existing St Mellion wedding offer upmarket and to provide an events space to rent for local businesses/community".
The plans also include extending the lake on the site which would have a new “beach” area and have facilities for canoeing and bubble orb running. There are also plans for fishing for off-season anglers.
A new children’s barn is also planned which would also include a new adventure play area and adventure golf course.