News: Updated YES Project plans submitted

Oak Holdings, the operators of Rother Valley Country Park and developers behind the YES! Project in Rotherham has submitted an updated planning application for what will be the largest undercover leisure based scheme in Europe.

The YES! Project will comprise 1.2million sq ft covered, fully integrated, mixed-use, leisure and entertainment based resort, activity and conference destination.

The application is for the renewal of the previous outline plans approved by Rotherham Council in 2007 and the opportunity has been taking to submit the findings of extensive design works that have been undertaken in recent months.

The marginal changes include those enforced by the constraints of the ground conditions and those following a commercial review of the potential occupiers and clients. The new design allows for the fourteen-floor building to be more readily divisible into construction phases.

Further details of the extreme sports that are to be included in the development are highlighted and there is a desire to integrate these extreme sports more closely into the complex.

These include an indoor climbing facility, ice climbing, snow room, diving centre, access mall and changing rooms plus a hydrodome complex, indoor surf centre, rope park pavilion, indoor sky diving, a Top Chip hall and a Via Ferratta (an adventure climbing system).

Further "experience" operations are also mentioned including a brewery experience, a food experience and academy and a chocolate experience.

Extreme sports specialist Venture Xtreme and golf driving range company Baydrive were the first tenants to sign up and in 2008, Oak secured a deal with the Sheffield Steelers ice hockey team to develop a new state-of-the-art purpose-built arena on the site.

Last year, Oak announced in an interim report that the first phase of the development will include the purpose built arena for the Sheffield Steelers together with a conference hotel.

Oak Holdings website
Rotherham

Images: Oak Holdings / Signet Planning