Construction consultancy Edmond Shipway is to provide project management, cost consultancy and mechanical and electrical engineering consultancy services for Center Parcs' proposed sixth UK holiday village.

Center Parcs has secured an option agreement to acquire privately-owned woodland at Oldhouse Warren in Crawley, West Sussex. The 553-acre woodland has been identified following an extensive search thanks to its location south of London, supported by excellent transport links.

In keeping with Center Parcs' other villages, the site at Oldhouse Warren is set to include lodges, a range of indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, a Subtropical Swimming Paradise, a variety of restaurants and shops, and an Aqua Sana Spa.

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Edmond Shipway will now be managing rigorous site appraisals and pre-planning works to ensure that the woodland meets the specific requirements of a Center Parcs holiday village. As well as this, a programme of community engagement will be arranged with a view to submitting a formal planning application to the local authority in due course.

David Stevenson, managing director at Edmond Shipway, said: "We have enjoyed an incredibly close working relationship with Center Parcs for more than 20 years, and are thrilled to be building on our hugely successful track record in this sector through delivering services for its proposed sixth UK holiday village.

"This swiftly follows our appointment to deliver the €85M expansion of the Longford Forest resort in Ireland, which will provide 200 new lodges and an extension to existing leisure and hospitality facilities, and further strengthens our position as one of the UK’s leading leisure and hospitality consultancies."

The development is expected to cost between £350m and £400m and is set to create around 1,500 permanent local jobs when operational, plus a further 1,000 jobs during its construction.