£25m green resort could create 200 jobs in Doncaster

The scheme - to be called Tyram Lakes Hotel Resort and Spa - is a £25 million project which will transform lakes near Hatfield which have previously been used for fishing and jet skiing.

Doncaster Council has this week given planning permission for the first 50 lodges which will form part of the scheme.

Many of the lodges will be built on stilts over the water, and will come with their own rowing boat.

No vehicles powered by fossil fuels will be on the site, with only electric power cars running on its premises.

Jet skiing will no longer be allowed on the resort’s waters.

It will also boast a 110 room hotel, and under the plans, a final total of 200 lodges would be in place by the time the scheme is completed.

Daulton Byfield, the managing director of the firm behind the scheme, Rothgen, based in Leeds, believes the scheme will be the first of its sort in the country.

He said: “We hope to be able to start building the hotel in 2017.

“The goal in three years time is to have 200 lodges and we have permission for a 104 room hotel.

“It is going to be the UK’s first sustainable eco-resort.

“We are looking to invest around £25 million and it is expected to create around 200 jobs.

“There is nothing like this in the UK.

“People will be able to come here to take part in activities like horse riding and walks.”

The scheme would also provide easy assess to Hatfield Moors

Under the plans, the lodges will be located either in forest or on or next to the lakes.

The 200 jobs will be on the resort, with some of them at a 100 cover restaurant.

Bosses expect that the scheme will attract visitors from all over the UK and from overseas, with Robin Hood Airport identified as a possible route for people to come to the site from abroad.

They expect it to be a magnet for tourists who are interested in pursuits such as horse riding, cycling, and walking, as well as rowing on the lake in the boats which will be provided by the resort, and moored to the side of the lodges, using them as piers.

A document issued by Doncaster Council this week confirmed the first wave of the lodges could go ahead.

It said the lake currently accommodates a number of touring caravans and is used for jet skiing.

The current planning application forms part of the firm’s masterplan for the site to develop luxury hotel and lodge accommodation. It stated: “The use of the lake for jet-skis will cease and the existing caravans will be removed.“

“The remaining three fishing lakes remain in the developer’s ownership.”

Of the 50 lodges approved this week, there will be 32 sited over the water and 18 on land, and they will be made of wood. Cars and lorries will get to the site on the A614, and there is car parking available on site.

Nature reserve

The site is around 65-acres hosts one large lake plus three smaller lakes currently used for fishing.

Hatfield Moor is to the south of the site, which is the largest lowland peat bog nature reserve in the UK offering more than 20 miles of walking and trekking landscapes.

The land lying south west of the The Tyram Lakes Hotel, Spa and Resort is around 100 acres of natural woodland.

The developer behind the scheme says it will provide a unique and tranquil escape in a beautiful natural habitat.

It will have a range of two and three bedroom Lakeside Lodges, Woodland Lodges along with a number of larger four bedroom lodges.

All the lodges will be fitted with solar panels, water purification systems designed to filter and clean water and decking areas with sunken jacuzzis.

Some of the lodges will also have roof-top gardens.

Road concerns

Community leaders have raised concerns over the planned Tyram Lodge scheme.

Hatfield Town Councillor Bill Morrison said he was concerned over how cars would get to the resort, as he feared it would mean more traffic on the A614. He said: “It is a road that’s notorious for accidents and my concern is that further development could increase that, not decrease it. I was opposed to it and I would urge them to put road safety measures in. The jobs are a positive thing, but you have to look at the balance.”