Center Parcs opens its first ever holiday village in Scotland: a £400 million resort with 700 lodges and a ‘swimming paradise’
Center Parcs has announced it will open its first holiday village in Scotland, on a site in the Scottish Borders.
The company revealed that the £350-400 million village will be located approximately three miles north of Hawick and 60 miles south of Edinburgh.
Center Parcs described the site as ‘well located’ and that it would ‘bring significant benefits to the local economy in Scotland, including job creation’.
The company continued in a statement: ‘The proposed village will be a similar concept to Center Parcs’ existing six holiday villages in England and Ireland, and will see a planning application submitted for approximately 700 lodges. The venue will offer a range of indoor and outdoor activities, shops, bars, restaurants, an Aqua Sana Forest Spa and Center Parcs’ iconic indoor water park, the Subtropical Swimming Paradise.
‘Center Parcs plans to implement an extensive afforestation programme, carefully cultivating new woodland and delivering a significant net benefit to the biodiversity of the site. The site currently consists mainly of open grassland with some wooded areas.’
The company added: ‘The proposals are at an early stage and Center Parcs plans to submit a planning application in 2025.’
During the construction phase of the project, 750 to 800 mainly regional jobs will be created, Center Parcs said, and ‘local contractors will be used where possible’.
Once operational, the village is expected to create approximately 1,200 permanent non-seasonal jobs.
Center Parcs has announced it will open its first holiday village in Scotland, on a site in the Scottish Borders (file image from Center Parcs Elveden Forest)
Colin McKinlay, Chief Executive Officer of Center Parcs, said: “This is a hugely exciting project and has the opportunity to transform leisure and tourism in the Scottish Borders.
‘Center Parcs is an exceptionally popular destination for families across Britain and Ireland and there is strong demand to support a seventh village.
‘Throughout our history we have shown that a Center Parcs village delivers significant economic benefits at local, regional and national levels.
‘Many Scottish families already visit Center Parcs villages in England, and this village will give people the chance to enjoy their holidays closer to home, which will in turn benefit the local economy.
‘Sustainability is at the core of our values. In our thirty years of operation in Britain and Ireland, we have transformed areas of commercial woodland into a rich array of flora and fauna, significantly improving the biodiversity of each village.
‘This location gives us the opportunity to take a bold, new approach and create our own forest, delivering a significant net benefit to biodiversity and planting thousands of new trees.’
Center Parcs has announced that the village will have a swimming paradise (Center Parcs image file)
