• Locals were shocked to discover Forest Holidays Ltd is aiming to build 40 “eco-sensitive” cabins in the Brecon Beacons National Park, working alongside National Resources Wales.
• Glowing testimony from Kevin Hollinrake MP is boasted by the company despite his notorious pro-fracking stance, a gas drilling technique widely condemned for its environmental damage.
• Forest Holidays has unique access to develop its cabins on National Park land owing to an historic agreement, but is run by a private equity firm.
Image: Forest Holidays CEO Bruce McKendrick, left, with Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake. [Credit: kevinhollinrake.org.uk]
A set of high-end “eco-sensitive” tourist cabins being built in the Brecon Beacons National Park by a company linked to a pro-fracking Tory MP.
The venture, spearheaded by luxury holiday brand Forest Holidays, is set to open in December 2022 but the area in which the holiday village is set to lie is home to a dense ecosystem of animals and plant-life that locals are concerned will be disrupted by the new holiday park.
Questions have been raised about the firm’s commitment to their eco-friendly pledges due to their ongoing relationship with Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake and his commitment to hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, an industrial technique used to extract underground shale gas which is highly damaging to the environment.
People living in the area have reacted angrily to the development, which cut off land they previously used, but say no consultation took place whatsoever for the development, which began suddenly in early 2022.
Efan Ap Ifor, who lives in the nearby village of Penderyn and regularly walked on the land before work began, described the situation as “pretty depressing,” saying that trees were already being ripped up and concrete laid down, disrupting birds and wildlife.
After seeing a notice on the gate saying work was due to begin imminently in January, Efan asked other residents if they had seen any notice or consultation, but no one had.
“They’re turning it into a commercial enterprise,” he told us. “Like a mini centre-parks. No one will be able to come and enjoy the land…it [the national park] is supposed to be in public ownership.”
Forest Holidays has attempted to ease concerns about the project by saying their cabins will be “eco-sensitive” and that the constant traffic around the complex accommodating 40 cabins will “enhance the woodland, its wildlife, and its habitats”.
But the company lists their policy on environmental protections on their website, which contains an enthusiastic recommendation from pro-fracking Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake.
The Yorkshire MP said he was “delighted” to meet the team behind Forest Holidays to “see how they encourage visitors to experience our areas of woodland beauty and educate them about the need to protect these areas for future generations.”
In a since-deleted post to his parliamentary website, Hollinrake told voters in 2015 that he “would be first in a long line of local residents who would fight tooth and nail to prevent any attempt to produce shale gas in our area on an industrial scale.”
Though after he assumed office that same year he seems to have changed his mind on the issue.
Hollinrake has since been keen on opening up his constituency of Thirsk and Malton to fracking giants in a column for the Yorkshire Post headlined: “Why I Support Fracking In Yorkshire”. He argued that fracking could help solve climate change, an opinion that has been roundly debunked.
The politician was also forced to step down from a parliamentary group on shale gas as the organisation was found to be almost entirely funded by the largest players in the fracking industry, prompting a backlash from his constituents.
Forest Holidays CEO Bruce McKendrick can also been seen pictured alongside Hollinrake in a 2018 article on his parliamentary website in a beaming profile of the company.
Questions were raised to the company, whose eco-friendly developments are a large part of their marketing strategy, about how close their relationship is to a politician who is so ardently in favour of an industry that is so damaging to the environment.
Forest Holidays told voice.wales the firm meets with a range of stakeholders in the areas where their holiday villages are situated, and regarding MPs: “Their views on other subjects are entirely their own.”
Hollinrake has pledged his support for the “many economic opportunities” of Keldy Forest in Yorkshire, one example of which is a Forest Holidays site of similar cabins in the woodland as that being developed in Wales. .
The MP can be seen smiling broadly alongside two employees of the cabin complex in a July 2018 tweet from his parliamentary account, which was then shared by the marketing department of Forest Holidays.
The firm added: “It was wonderful to welcome you to Keldy @kevinhollinrake – we’re delighted to be open once more and to be welcoming guests to our beautiful locations and communities!”
The new venture in Wales from Forest Holidays was announced with a glowing headline from The Mirror that, on closer inspection, contains affiliate links that make the newspaper money when you buy a holiday through a link found in their article. Similar uncritical coverage can also be found on WalesOnline.
Forest Holidays have opened up the new Brecon Beacons site for bookings in December 2022, which gives a taste of the type of clientele they are aiming their services towards.
“Peaceful valley views, winding forest trails and a tranquil stream” are promised to tourists who want a double-bed cabin for four nights during the opening week – if they can afford the £1345 price-tag.
Other offers for the opening week include the five-bedroom “Golden Oak Treehouse” which can house up to ten guests, with a bill for £749 per night.
Each cabin comes with a hot-tub as standard and those wishing to splash on the premium cabins have a luxury food hamper and a bottle of chilled prosecco waiting on arrival.
Efan questioned the claim made by Natural Resources Wales that 60 jobs would be created by the project, saying that most employment would be low paid service work. “The people working here are going to be cleaners and service workers, servicing those who can afford to stay there.”
Forest Holidays was formed by The Forestry Commission in 1994, as a profit-making venture for the UK government body. However the Forestry Commission no longer exists as it was in Scotland and Wales, and has now merged into Forestry and Land Scotland and Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
The relationship with Forest Holidays has seemingly carried over, however, giving the firm privileged access to make a profit off land that is usually strictly protected against the kind of development now being seen in Gawrnant.
At the same time, Forest Holidays now has even less of a relationship with public bodies than it did before and is run in the main by private finance. In 2017 London-based Phoenix Equity Partners gained a controlling stake in Forest Holidays giving the firm the capital for their continued expansion of their swanky holiday villages into some of the UK’s most sacred forest beauty-spots.
The Welsh Government has committed to “identify potential sites for cabin development” in addition to the two Forest Holidays villages that are currently in the country, Garwant and Beddgelert in Snowdonia, in the latest NRW Enterprise Plan for the commercialisation of public woodland.
There is concern that the historic agreement between the Forestry Commission and Forest Holidays, which has seemingly been transferred over to Natural Resources Wales, could mean that other sites have been earmarked for development and not subject to normal requirements for consultation.
“How many other projects are they hiding from us,” Efan told us. National parks need to be developed for people not turned into a playground for the rich… the next generation can’t even afford to live here yet they’re turning it into a luxury village.”
In a statement, Forest Holidays told us: “We take pride in the environmental and sustainable focus of our business and make every effort to show stakeholders first-hand how we operate and contribute to helping the UK’s forests thrive.”
Gavin Bown, head of Mid Wales Operations for NRW, said: “One of Natural Resources Wales’ roles is identifying and enabling sustainable economic opportunities and provision of suitable recreation opportunities on our managed estate.
“The development at Garwnant will benefit the local economy, create additional jobs and improve recreation provision. It will also provide an annual income to NRW which will help fund local and wider recreation and environmental work on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate.”
