UK's longest ski slope gets go ahead in 'game-changer' plan

Plans to build the UK's longest ski slope have been given the green light.

Merthyr Tydfil council's planning committee voted unanimously in favour of the application subject to 53 conditions being met by developers.

At a meeting on Wednesday, council leader Brent Carter dubbed the scheme, which also includes plans for a tropical waterpark, a hotel and lodge accommodation, a "game changer" for the town.

Reform councillor Andrew Barry said it was the "opportunity the area had been waiting for".

There were claps and cheers from the public as the vote went through.

A legal agreement will be drawn up so money from the Rhydycar West developers can be used to mitigate negative impacts of their work.

During the planning process a number of concerns were raised about its planned location, sustainability, scale and impact on the view and ecology.

The ski centre project first came to light in 2017 with planning permission put forward in 2023.

When it went before the council in March 2025 councillors voted against a recommendation to refuse the application for the site off the Rhydycar West roundabout, which was previously mining areas for coal and ironstone.

It was then considered by the planning inspectorate but in November 2025 the Welsh government confirmed it would not call the application in.

The plans then went back to the council for a final vote on Wednesday.

The Snow Centre in Manchester currently has the biggest indoor slope in the UK at 180m (590ft) but Marvel Limited, the developers behind the Merthyr Tydfil proposals, say their centre would be one of the biggest in the world with a slope of about 400m (1312ft) in length.

It would become the official headquarters for the UK (GB) and Welsh Olympic and Paralympic snow sports teams, according to the company, and sit alongside a conference centre, tropical waterpark, a hotel and lodge accommodation.

The firm estimates it would create 1,500 construction jobs, including 1,200 from the local area, and then 800 jobs at the centre itself.

Views on the development were mixed in Merthyr Tydfil town centre on Wednesday.

Phillip Jones, 79, welcomed "anything that can bring jobs, the good jobs are not here."

Marthilda Odeode, who has recently moved to Merthyr, said: "It's a really beautiful town and it would be a good opportunity for the people here and it might encourage some people like myself to ski for once."

Roy Davies was concerned any benefit may not move beyond the development.

"It could be a bit like the bike park - it won't bring much into the town because people will come for the day and go away again," he said.

"It depends how much people will want to stay there - it may give the hotels some custom."

Tourism is seen as key to bringing money into Wales but some projects like ill-fated racetrack project Circuit of Wales in Ebbw Vale never got off the ground.

Cork university business school's Prof Calvin Jones said: "We do need to be cautious and I think we have an issue that we have been down this path before - in some cases that has worked, you don't have to go very far to find a very successful mountain biking development albeit on a smaller scale.

"So it's not that tourism developments can't or don't happen and that the money can't be found but people are right to be cautious ahead of clarity on where that funding is coming from."

He said a potential workforce may not be easy to find because of prolonged economic inactivity and sickness.

"The idea there are 800 people ready and willing to move into those jobs, you need to be cautious about that," added Jones.