Work begins on new Welsh multi-million pound attraction including gondola and zipline

North Wales Live

3 hours ago

A Welsh council has recently facilitated the development of a major leisure attraction by selling off land, with initial groundwork already underway.
Skyline Enterprises has secured planning permission for an ambitious project that includes a gondola lift from Landore park and ride, spanning the River Tawe to Kilvey Hill, where thrill-seekers can enjoy a sky swing, a zipline circuit, and luge tracks, at on Kilvey Hill
The venture also promises a hilltop restaurant, mountain biking trails, walking paths, a children's play area, picnic spots, a new bridleway, and enhanced green spaces. Financial backing is being provided by the Welsh Government and Swansea Council, contributing £4 million and approximately £8 million respectively.
Swansea Council's cabinet has approved the land sale and pledged its financial support in a private meeting last month.
A council spokesperson, answering questions from the Local Democracy Reporting Service, confirmed: "Everything that's needed for the scheme is now in place, apart from one area of land that we're in continuing negotiations with Natural Resources Wales about."
They added: "The council's financial commitment to support the scheme remains unchanged, subject to the conclusion of financial negotiations. Our investment is expected to be repaid in full as part of an agreement with Skyline.", reports Wales Online.
New Zealand-based Skyline Enterprises said the preparatory work being undertaken was to relocate reptiles.
There have been some concerns about potential impact on nesting birds as the nesting season runs until August 31. Bonymaen resident and keen bird watcher Karl Squires said: "I'm just a bit annoyed that they've started when they did."
A spokeswoman for Skyline Enterprises said the supervised reptile relocation work taking place this summer was approved as part of the planning application as it had to take place at specific times of year.
"The reptile relocation work is being managed by a team of qualified ecologists who review areas of work before any activity starts each day, ensuring work follows all regulations," she said. "A strict protocol is to be followed if an issue is found to ensure the best possible outcome. This work has been approved as part of the planning conditions, and no licence is required."
The council said it was satisfied with the work currently being undertaken.
Skyline Enterprises' plans were first revealed in 2017, and public consultation events took place in 2023. Its planning application was approved in March this year by the council's planning committee by seven votes to two with one abstention. The application had led to around 560 letters of objection and 40 letters of support.
Objectors who spoke at the planning meeting focused on Kilvey Hill's quiet area designation and how they felt it would be threatened, visual impact, potential impact on private water supplies, increased traffic, and what would happen if the scheme didn't deliver on its expectations.
The committee report said the cumulative benefits of the proposal would outweigh "significant harm" arising from landscape and visual impacts. Planning agent John Hurley, speaking on behalf of Skyline Enterprises, said the development would attract an estimated 450,000-plus visitors per year, create jobs, improve access to the hill, and result in a net biodiversity gain due to replacement tree planting and woodland management.
Skyline Enterprises has previously said the attraction would take up 9% of the total area of Kilvey Hill and that its board had approved a budget of 78 million New Zealand dollars - just under £35 million at current exchange rates - for the project. The firm operates other leisure developments worldwide but none yet in Europe.
Speaking in 2023, Dawn Bowden, Wales' deputy minister for arts and sport, said the proposed leisure attraction was a "unique inward investment opportunity" for the Welsh Government and "significant in the further development of Swansea as a vibrant city destination".