Plans submitted for £23 million forest holiday site in Derbyshire woodland

The project, from Forest Holidays - the commercial partner of Forestry England - would see the holiday cabins built on 140 acres of woodland at Farley Moor, two miles north of Matlock.

In documents submitted to Derbyshire Dales District Council, the applicant says the development would use a third of the land which makes up Farley Moor (440 acres), which is all managed by Forestry England.

If approved, the scheme would include a shop, cafe, outdoor play area and 249 parking spaces. A decision will be made by the district council in the next few months.

The development would create 48 new jobs, the application details, with an economic impact report claiming this will rise to 57 jobs within three years.

The economic impact report claims the scheme would lead toi £1.4 million extra being spent by tourists in the Derbyshire Dales per year, rising to £1.7 million after three years.

The scheme would cost £23 million and be able to accommodate 185 people in nine one-bed cabins, 35 two-bed cabins, 22 three-bed cabins, five four-bed cabins and four five-bed treehouse cabins. All the cabins would be suspended over the ground on steel pillars to avoid impact on the forest floor and would be a flat-pack design, meaning little need for heavy construction equipment.

A statement from the applicants says: “Forest Holidays have a track record of promoting high quality ecologically sensitive cabin developments within managed woodland estates and are a longstanding preferred partner of Forestry England.

“A proposed development of 75 timber cabins and associated infrastructure is proposed at Farley Moor, which will supplement the company’s existing offerings throughout the UK and which will deliver multiple social, environmental and ecological benefits to the location.

“The holiday offering is one that is entirely low-key which respects the woodland and its setting.”