Ski Village: Swansea set to win race for 'world first' gravity park as talks in Sheffield stall

In its first update since April last year, Skyline Enterprises said talks with Sheffield City Council ‘are taking longer than expected’. But the New Zealand firm hopes to make an announcement very shortly about a development in Swansea.

Danny Luke​, general manager international luge development, said: “We remain interested in Parkwood Springs, however we have not made a huge amount of progress over the course of the last few months. We continue to engage in discussions with the Sheffield City Council, however things are taking longer than expected. We identified Swansea in late 2016 and have been carrying our feasibility work since this time and hope to make a final announcement very shortly. It is conceivable that both developments could be delivered and one will not replace the other, however right now Swansea is the priority.”

The news is a blow to the Outdoor City which has been trying for years to replace the legendary Ski Village. Skyline emerged as front runner after Extreme Leisure - which planned a £25m ski resort - was sacked in 2021 after four years for being too slow.

This time last year Tammy Whitaker, head of regeneration at Sheffield City Council, said Skyline was set to build a gravity park that would be a ‘world first’. Today, Swansea Council says plans are gathering pace for a world-class leisure attraction set to attract ‘significant visitor numbers’ and create jobs for local people.

Council leader Rob Stewart said: "The scheme layout and proposals for this exciting development are now close to being finalised.”

In Sheffield, the Extreme Leisure development was seen as a hugely important part of the Outdoor City offer. It was predicted to create 400 jobs, attract 1m people-a-year and pump £50m into the local economy over 10 years, on top of £25m investment. The original Ski Village opened in 1988 and attracted visitors from across the North and Midlands. It was destroyed by fire in 2012 and suffered repeated arson attacks. Today, the 51-acre site is derelict and overgrown.

Sean McClean, director of regeneration and development at Sheffield City Council said: “Sheffield City Council continues to be in discussions with Skyline regarding exciting proposals for the regeneration of Parkwood Springs and remains committed to making it a valuable and welcoming green space for everyone in the city. Unfortunately, progress is taking longer than expected. In summer 2022, we submitted a promising bid to Government for more Levelling Up funding to complete works on Parkwood Springs and facilitate development in the park. We still await this decision and the Government is yet to set a date for this announcement. However, regardless of the outcome, we remain committed to improving the lives of residents across Sheffield, in all areas of their lives and will seek alternative funding routes to bring a new lease of life to the park if necessary.”