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CENTER PARCS HAS been given the green light to develop a €233m holiday resort in Co Longford.
An Bord Pleanála decided to uphold the planning permission granted by Longford County Council for the development of Center Parcs’ Longford Forest holiday village on a 405-acre site in Newcastle Wood, near Ballymahon.
Martin Dalby, CEO of Center Parcs, said the company welcomes the news.
Since we announced our desire to bring the Center Parcs experience to Ireland last April, we have been overwhelmed by the positive support we have received at both local and national level and we are looking forward to forging ahead to bring our plans to fruition.
The company believes that Center Parcs Longford Forest will have a “transformative effect” on the midlands region in both tourism and economic terms.
The next step for Center Parcs is to move to the procurement phase of the project which will be followed by construction. The planned opening date is in 2019.
In its planner’s report, An Bord Pleanála notes:
It is noted that Longford and the midlands region are currently underdeveloped in terms of tourism infrastructure with limited guest accommodation in Longford. The woodland and ecological benefits of the proposal are also outlined. In terms of roads and traffic it is considered that subject to compliance with conditions that the proposal is satisfactory from a road safety viewpoint.
Three third-party appeals were received by the board, relating to issues such as scale and design, that they believed the brochure imagery was misleading, the presence of a nearby landfill dump, and concerns about tree loss and traffic.
Center Parcs Longford Forest will create approximately 750 jobs during construction, and once open it will cater for up to 2,500 guests and employ up to 1,000 people in permanent jobs.
The company expects that most of the roles will be filled by employees between the ages of 18 and 24, with the majority of them likely to live locally and in the surrounding midlands region.
Center Parcs estimates that, when operational, the new holiday village will add approximately €32 million to Ireland’s GDP per annum.
Center Parcs offers short breaks in a secluded and natural woodland setting.
Center Parcs Longford Forest will have up to 500 lodges, more than 100 indoor and outdoor activities, a spa, a range of restaurants and cafés and a Subtropical Swimming Paradise, said the company.
The company said that Center Parcs Longford Forest “will have a dedicated team of Conservation Rangers who will protect and nurture the beautiful woodland”.
Longford/Westmeath TD Deputy Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran said the decision to give the go-ahead to Longford Forest Center Parcs is ”a major vote of confidence in the region”.
He said that he hopes that the news will deliver a permanent boost to the local economy, comparing it to “an Intel or Google coming to the midlands”.
The company operates five short break destinations across the UK: Whinfell Forest, Cumbria; Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire; Elveden Forest, Suffolk; Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire and Longleat Forest, Wiltshire.
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Taking tips off the staff would be a low thing to do and would not promote good service ,the tip is for a service that the customer feels is due to the receipen not for the employer
@FlopFlipU: Tips given generally for all staff including in the kitchen I would have thought. If you include the tip on a card staff don’t get tip for a while until worked out by book keepers. Tip as cash gets to staff faster.
@Gillian Scully: you know this for sure what about the presentage supplied what does the chef get as opposed to the waiter get ,it needs to be trashed out in my opinion ,
@FlopFlipU: no would bes..it happens all the time
@Gillian Scully: I would generally reserve it for the server…but this can depend on the size of the premises. Small places, generally a tip jar for all and in larger establishments the person who has served me.
the management and owners deserve a share of the tips also.
@frank murphy: No they dont…….
@FlopFlipU: The tips are intended for the waitress at least that is what I thought..As regards the chef he is been better paid than the waitress so in future a waitress should have some kind of bag or purse to keep the tips intended for them..If employers paid a proper wage to the waitress there would be no need to tip..But a waitress who gives good service to the customer deserves a tip
I am delighted to see this legislation, I tipped a young girl in a restaurant in Trim , she was so pleasant and even advised us of places of interest, but she told us that she would only be allowed to keep two euro per hour tip as the employer kept the balance of all tips and she was required to hand in her tips to the head barman, for her four hour shift, she was handed eight euro in tips , I was astonished that any employer would withhold tips from staff, I always assumed employers would have no right to such gratuities, this is a greedy practice and this legislation will put manners on employers who dip into their staffs tips.
@Honeybee: name and shame.
@Honeybee: that waitress sure did spend a lot of time talking to you ..
@Honeybee: that is horrible. The tip is from the customer and they make the decision to give it directly to the one person for their great services…I’d be fuming to think the employer took the tips and decided how they were divided out. If an establishment is small and there’s a tip jar and many hands made my night special I would like them all to receive a % of the tip. But if i directly hand it to a server for their good work, then it’s theirs.
I worked in this industry the tips were great. But why do we have tips. Was in Dunnes the other day the young girl working went our of her way to find a product for us. Tips should be across the board were people go beyond their duties.
@: __ Perhaps you should have given her a tip?
Hardly ever tip..food and already overpriced as it is.
That on top of the fact servers are earning at the very least minimum wage anyways.
@Leroy: hope you like eating boogers and cum
@Leroy: __ It’s a good job we’re not all skinflints.
@Fergus Sheahan: __ He probably would eat those rare delicacies, as long as they weren’t overpriced.
@Leroy: yea, someone on minimum wage, possibly second job/part time to make ends meet, prices aren’t the servers fault. If you can afford to eat out you can afford a small gratuity for someone you feel deserves it. Miserable attitude.
@Leroy: So you’re a tosser then? Could’ve just said that.
@Leroy: wow Leroy, your generosity knows no bounds
Tips are so important to the people in that industry….not sure why we decide to pick and choose who we deem worthy of a tip though…I tipped some young lad who brought down my Mc Donald’s meal to my table for me and the kids…look of gratitude on his face was worth the 2 quid.
Fair play, Bill.
Not doing this out of the goodness of there hearts. The revenue has been trying get there hands on cash tips for years
Government is a bit two faced here. Staff working in what is considered to be a tipping zone have their tax free allowance cut to take account of the possibility of extra income.
This is bull.
Must I tip now when I dine out in Ireland?
The whole point of the tip culture originates from a country with low minimum wage attributes, and no sick leave/holiday pay or any other kind of niceness.
The country is the USA.
I won’t be tipping you for doing your job in Ireland. A job which has benefits that are more than are afforded to me.
@Oliver McLoughlin: No, you need not tip, leave that to decent and generous people.
Who does this Bill think he is?
good
YES employers should not withold tips.. but WTF does this have to be regulated, oh I guess its to trumpet in the wonderful new leader of SF.
In some places its completely necessary for the employer to have dibs on the tips – there may be policies that tips are shared to kitchen staff or others, or it funds staff voluntary perks. Upset that balance and staff morale could be a mess… Or what do you do when the owner is a member of staff. Is he not allowed to have a part of the tip, what if the owners wife or son is …
There are so many tipping policies possible and now SF want busy bodies enforcing it..
Twould be easier if someone like tripadvisor had a seal/icon to say ‘staff-friendly-tips’ or ‘staff-shared-tips’ or no tipping.
Would SF every go back to laundering diesel properly…
Service charges should be outlawed , the price quoted should be the price to be paid.
Staff should be paid proper rates of pay ,which is included in what you are buying so no need for tipping .
Sinn Fein are trying to get on Pension gravy train .
Three Years for a Pension for Life. Is a great temptation ,ridiculous and should be brought to an end .
Those People with a Ministers pension in their pocket are the same people saying a Civil Servant pension after 40 / 45
Years is too generous ???.
Moons ago when waitressing, we all had set tables to wait, yet had to hand over all tips after each table left, which was than divided out to all staff which was cruel but kind as than everyone was included, but boss kept big portion for himself. In current Job not allowed except gifts/tips exception Christmas and everything pooled and raffelled out, We have to inform boss and ask permission to accept anything, it’s to prevent conflict of interest.
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