Massive jobs boost as Center Parcs Longford Forest given green light for €85m expansion

Longford is set for a massive jobs boost after Center Parcs Longford Forest was given the green light  to proceed with a planned €85m expansion of their holiday village facility in Ballymahon.

The investment will see the creation of 300 jobs during construction and 250 permanent jobs once operational.

And the spin off for the local economy will be immense, with the use of local hospitality during construction and opportunities for local suppliers, consultants and contractors.

The application to the planning department of Longford County Council covers 198 new lodges located in three zones. This will comprise of 56 two-bedroom lodges, 105 three-bedroom lodges, 32 four-bedroom lodges, one five-bedroom lodge, and four six-bedroom lodges.

The expansion also covers external sauna or pods associated with specific lodges, coffee shop, lakeside restaurant, energy centre, staff welfare and storage building.

The plans submitted cover two remote housekeeping stores, extensions and alterations to existing commercial retail and leisure buildings. The alterations include extensions to housekeeping and technical services, extension to existing Aqua Sauna spa facility (to include new treatment rooms and treetop sauna) the extension of the existing Sub-Tropical Swimming Paradise, Sports Hall, Village Centre restaurants, Huck's restaurant, Cara's restaurant, Sports Café restaurant and Bella Italia restaurant.

A district heating system, solar panels, wastewater treatment plant, car park, the provision of electrical vehicle charging points and cycle parking are also included in the planning application.

In June of this year, the holiday giants confirmed that over one million people have visited Longford forest since it opened in August of 2019.

Occupancy at Center Parcs Longford Forest are currently more than 90% and of the 1,200 people working in the resort – 66% of them hail from county Longford and a further 32% live in the bordering counties.

In May of this year the operators of Center Parcs posted recorded pre-tax losses totalling €18.2m due to Covid-19 enforced shutdowns.

The accounts for the 12 months to April 22, 2021 note that the popular destination remained closed to guests for a significant part of the financial year in line with Government advice.

As a result, revenue dropped to €10.8 million last year from €33.6 million in 2020. The accounts provided at the end of the opening quarter of this year disclose that the resort's Canadian headquartered owners, Brookfield, provided additional funding of €13.7m during the year to support the Longford enterprise.

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