Center Parcs Longford Forest lodge ambitious plans for new 'Forest Glider' attraction

Center Parcs Longford Forest have filed a planning application with Longford County Council for the installation of a tower platform for a new aerial zipline attraction at their forest resort in Ballymahon.

Also included in the application for planning permission is a single-storey timber canopy for kit-on/kit-off facilities, and associated ancillary site works. 

The new zipline, which, according to Center Parcs' application will be called ‘Forest Glider’, will be created by ZipZag Rides, a British engineering consultancy firm whose team of engineers specialise in the design, installation, and maintenance of bespoke aerial amusement rides and who were also involved in a number of high profile projects including the famous London Eye. 

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Forest Glider will see guests begin the activity from a landing platform on the ‘start tower’ which is proposed to be of a spiral structure and designed to blend in with its surroundings. The guest will then be suspended via a harness as they take flight “through the trees in twists and turns,” before the rider then descends back onto the landing platform on the start tower. The ride will start and finish from this tower with the track being one large loop. 

According to the application, where tree pruning is required to facilitate the installation of the cables, it will be carried out in accordance with ‘tree work recommendations’, and on a tree-by-tree basis as required and as described within the Arboricultural report which was also submitted by Center Parcs. 

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The application went on to state that any pruning work undertaken would “not affect the structural integrity of the tree and/or branch” and “should not equate to any more than a 30% reduction in the tree canopy.” 

Longford County Council are expected to return with a decision in early March.