A major children’s outdoor adventure attraction is to be built on the outskirts of Chester after being given the go ahead by planners.
At a meeting of Cheshire West and Chester Council ’s planning committee on Tuesday (May 8), applicants Moss Wood Ltd were given permission to transform a 76 acre site at Bickley, near Malpas, into a family leisure attraction which is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to the area.
BeWILDerwood, which is based on a series of adventure books by children’s author Tom Blofeld, was approved subject to a number of conditions including bird breeding and vegetation removal, tree and hedge protection and a waste recycling scheme.
The attraction, which also has a site in Norfolk, will feature a large lake for boat rides, play structures, tree houses and an educational resource building as well as story-telling areas and refreshment kiosks.
It will create around 25 full-time and 155 part-time jobs and also feature a 500-strong car park, as well as overspill parking for a further 850 vehicles.
Marketing Cheshire said the development would be ‘a welcome addition’ to the tourism offer in Cheshire and hoped it would consolidate the cluster of existing high quality attractions and encourage longer stays and higher spend.
There had been some concerns from members of the community about the potential effect on the countryside for example, as well as noise levels, but the applicants said they intended to retain a sense of openness across the site and ensure a parkland character is retained as the plans include additional tree planting.
A noise mitigation scheme would also be implemented, they promised.
A spokesperson for Savills (UK) who prepared planning and design statements for the project, said: “BeWILDerwood is an award-winning adventurous play environment for children, with a strong emphasis on healthy outdoor family leisure, education and environmental awareness.
“The adventure features a strong storytelling element based around several published books about the mythology of the Boggles and Twiggles who secretly live in the woods.”
