00:00I think we're hoping so. Who knows, we might have the next Olympic gold medalist coming
00:06from the Valleys and that would be fantastic.
00:08I'm here just close to the top of what could soon become the UK's longest ski slope.
00:14Where we're actually at right here is at the beginning of the snow centre, which is going
00:20to be going west of where we are now. And just to the east here is the entrance to the
00:27site.
00:28The site at Riddikar West is set to be full of different attractions on top of the massive
00:32ski slope and is hoped to become a real centre for snow sports across Wales and for the whole
00:36of the UK.
00:37There are three hotels, one of them being a sports hotel, a resort hotel, a spa hotel
00:46and then that all interconnects with the snow centre and with the tropical water park. We
00:52also have connected an adventure centre as well, which has got both outdoor and indoor
01:00elements to that particular attraction.
01:03For such a huge project it clearly needed the support of local councillors and locals
01:07to go ahead. And Lynn says through the years the project has been ticking on, locals have
01:12certainly gotten behind it and are excited for what it could bring.
01:16I think it's been overwhelming positive support for the project from the community. We've
01:23seen that in the weeks and days leading up to the planning meeting where there was a
01:28petition where thousands signed a petition in support of the project. But leading up
01:32to that we had a survey which was ongoing for a number of years and there were thousands
01:37who participated in that survey. And we've seen, I think it was a 95% plus support for
01:44the project. So there's no doubt that people in Merthyr want this project and we need
01:48this project.
01:49The plans have certainly not come without their controversies though and one of them
01:53is the natural environment here that it will be built on. It comes with a number of SSSI's,
01:59Sites of Specific Scientific Interest. But Lynn says they have worked with all partners
02:03and the council are giving it the green light just a few weeks ago.
02:06There's a lot of work that's gone into this with statutory bodies such as NRW, Natural
02:12Resources Wales, Cadw as well. So there's a lot of thought in how this development has
02:18been put in place to protect biodiversity and historical sites. In fact, there's going
02:24to be, I'd say in terms of the heritage, we've actually scheduled monitorments with Cadw
02:31ourselves. They've sort of deemed it to be an enhancement and a net benefit for access
02:38to heritage on the site because we're going to make it more accessible and enhance them
02:43on the site because apart from that there's going to be heritage trails.
02:48Part of skiing is the beautiful surroundings you'll find yourself in and what better than
02:51that behind me over Merthyr Tydfil. So Italy, France, Switzerland, you can keep your Alps.
02:56Merthyr Tydfil is going to be the new skiing hotspot.
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