SnOasis

SnOasis

Location of SnOasis
Location	Great Blakenham
Proposer	SnOasis
Cost estimate	£300m

SnOasis is a controversial proposed indoor winter sports resort in Great Blakenham near Ipswich, Suffolk UK currently scheduled to open in 2020. It is planned be the largest real snow indoor ski slope in the world with a 415 metre long slope, 70 metre wide run, and a 100 metre drop; accommodating 1000 skiers per hour. There are several comparable slopes, including one at Neuss, Germany, but none have a vertical drop of 100 metres and the overall ski area of SnOasis will be more than double that of any other indoor ski slope in the world.

The project is being promoted by Onslow Suffolk Ltd with a budget of £300 million and would create around 1800 new jobs in the local area once fully open, and 3500 jobs created during the construction phase. There is a separate proposal to build 537 new homes adjacent to the site. The scheme is being opposed by SnOasis Community Alliance which represents 11 town and parish councils and by SnOasis Concern.

The site was acquired in 2001 and planning permission was applied for in 2004. Local planning permission for the project was granted on 21 April 2006 and public inquiry was announced on 26 July 2006 which upheld the decision, subject to conditions. Final government approval was granted by Hazel Blears on the 6 November 2008 concluding that all the conditions had been met. Construction work cannot start until Natural England, a government agency, issues a licence to move the wildlife.

The majority shareholder of the scheme in 2008 was an Irish private equity group First Equity Group, which owned 70% of Onslow Suffolk with debt funding provided by Allied Irish Bank. The managing director was Godfrey Spanner.

In January 2011 the promoters said that construction would start in 'late 2011'. However, the leader of Mid-Suffolk District Council has stated that the scheme is highly unlikely to go ahead.

In February 2011 Mr Spanner, was found guilty by the High Court in February 2011 of wrongful trading in a separate venture, Onslow Ditchling Ltd, of which he was a director which had been liquidated with debts of £900,000. The judge, Mr Justice Norris, said Mr Spanner and the other director of Onslow Ditchling Ltd showed "wilfully blind optimism" and "reckless belief". Mr Spanner says that the verdict will have no impact on Snoasis and that he is appealing the verdict.Mr Spanner was declared bankrupt in March 2012 and no longer has any link with Onslow Suffolk.