A holiday business is proposing an £8.1M investment to install 22 new luxury holiday cabins in a Eryri forest.

Forest Holidays has requested permission to replace 85 caravans and camping pitches with self-contained units Beddgelert.

The company wants to add to its existing 16 cabins and proposes dispensing with 59 touring caravan pitches and 26 camping pitches, currently part of the estate.

It also wants to erect a new reception and café building, provision of ancillary facilities, landscape planting and biodiversity enhancement.

The matter will go before the Eryri National Prk Authority planners.

Forest Holidays say “to meet continued demand” from the camping and caravanning community, the Roberts Group, would add to its existing capacity at the nearby Cae Du/Cae Canol campsites, where it currently has 25 touring caravan pitches and 85 camping pitches, and wants to expand with an additional 85 pitches, to accommodate both touring caravans and camping. This will done as part of a separate planning application and “will wholly replace the losses at Beddgelert”.

The report also notes that Roberts Group, with its HQ in Pwllheli, recently acquired the Cae Du/Cae Canol site. It had been closed for five years and had previously “seen limited investment” but reopened in spring 2024.

The proposed expansion will provide an additional 48 bed spaces, taking the gross capacity to 84 bed spaces.

The proposal notes in 2023 occupancy on-site was 96 per cnt. The site is currently operated by 13 full time employed staff.

The proposed development at Forest Holidays represents an investment of £8.1M in terms of construction cost and would support 16 additional part-time jobs and one additional full-time job. It is estimated that spend from additional visitors staying at the proposed additional cabins at Forest Holidays could represent a potential additional income of £642,000 per annum.