PLANS to build a water park resort in Basingstoke have garnered mixed opinions from residents.

It was revealed on Thursday, February 22, that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) have agreed an ‘in-principle’ deal, opening the door for Great Wolf Resorts to build an indoor water park resort next to the leisure park.

The proposed resort will complement the facilities at the Aquadrome and could feature a 500-bedroom hotel, indoor waterpark, and conference facilities as well as mini-golf, mini-bowling, a ropes course, games arcade and a selection of restaurants, cafes and bars. The plans are subject to planning permission.

According to the council, the resort will attract an estimated 600,000 extra visitors to the borough, and provide over 600 jobs, bringing 'substantial economic benefits' to the area.

READ MORE HERE: Plans to build water park resort, new hotel in Basingstoke 

Basingstoke Gazette: Image of the facilities at a Great Wolf Lodge resort

Residents have expressed mixed feelings about the plans, with concerns that the town does not have the infrastructure to support the resort.

Amanda Bowden, 42, who lives in Chineham, said: “I think it’s good, planning for the future is awesome but I think they need to address the pitfalls first such as Festival Place being empty."

Joan, who moved to Basingstoke in 1979, told the Gazette: “I don’t see Basingstoke as a holiday destination, it’s in the middle of nowhere. We only live here because you can get up to London, and you can go down to the South Coast." 

Ivory Mclaughlin, 20, expressed concern about the level of demand for the plans, she said: "The amount of hotels that we have in Basingstoke, we have the Holiday Inn, the Premier Inn, The Village Hotel and the Hampshire Court Hotel.

"There's no one in there, I went to the Premier Inn recently and there were three people, it's never packed."

Basingstoke Gazette: Basingstoke residents

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Susan Jones, a Basingstoke resident who volunteers in St Michael’s Hospice charity shop, said: “It will bring in lots of money for the town. I think it’s great that it's bringing so many jobs.”

The 65-year-old added: “You aren’t going to get anti-social behaviour in a hotel like that, it will bring more jobs, more income for the area and hopefully people will spend their money around here.”

While Adele Cabrol said she was concerned the project ‘doesn’t have a soul’ however she expressed that there are ‘pros and cons with everything’.

She added: “Some people might go, 'oh my gosh that’s fantastic my kids can go', and maybe people that don’t drive that live in the area, it (the resort) might help them, not everyone can afford to go out.”