Today, plans have been submitted by Alton Towers Resort for an extension to the Alton Towers accommodation offering. The proposal describes a plan for; 61 double lodges (122 units in total, each accommodating up to 5 people), 10 tree houses (housing up to 8 people), a restaurant, play areas, parking and an associated service building. It is expected the development will be a woodland village type offering alongside the woodland walk area area of the Resort. The plans can be viewed on Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s website.
The only parking around the lodges to be proposed is 9 disabled spaces, with other guests parking to the North of the site. The initial parking application included an extension to the car park, which will now be relocated due to the proposed hotel expansion. Also within the application are details of a spa expansion to create a spa garden to the East of the complex.
These new plans follow on from an application which was previously submitted in October 2012, but were subsequently withdrawn in May 2013. The plans for “150 lodges, associated reception/restaurant and servicing buildings at Alton Towers Resort, along with hard and soft landscaping, disabled car parking and associated drainage works” were due to be located on the site of where car parks ‘O’, ‘P’, and ‘J’ currently stand. The proposed development included a mix of lodges, huts, and ‘hobbit’ hole style accommodation sleeping between 4-5 people. However, these plans faced strong opposition from local residents and after a decision was not reached, despite the application being due to be considered in February 2014, Alton Towers Resort took the decision to withdraw the application.
This latest application appears to suggest that the resort are continuing to follow their long term development plan, in which it made clear that additional accommodation is required in order to help continue the growth of the resort in order to encourage guests to extend their stay across multiple days.
