PLANS for a much-anticipated £350 million winter sports resort in the heart of Suffolk go on public display today. It is hoped SnOasis, which is set to be built in an old cement works in Great Blakenham, will create up to 1,000 new jobs and attract as many as 250,000 visitors a month.

PLANS for a much-anticipated £350 million winter sports resort in the heart of Suffolk go on public display today.

It is hoped SnOasis, which is set to be built in an old cement works in Great Blakenham, will create up to 1,000 new jobs and attract as many as 250,000 visitors a month.

The resort would boast the world's largest indoor ski slope, a hotel, 300 skiing lodges, an ice arena, golf course and other leisure facilities.

Homes would be built on the site of the former Blue Circle cement works, and a railway station would be created on the main line between Ipswich and Norwich.

Developer Onslow Suffolk Limited submitted a detailed planning application for the scheme to Mid Suffolk District Council on June 16.

And now the plans will go on show at a public exhibition organised by the developers, which starts today and will run until Saturday.

The exhibition, in Bramford Road, Great Blakenham, will feature display boards, two-large scale models of the development, video footage and a brochure summarising the details of the scheme.

Members of the development team will also be on hand to answer any questions that visitors to the exhibition might have.

Godfrey Spanner, Managing Director for Onslow Suffolk Ltd, said: "We want as many local people as possible to come to see our proposals for SnOasis and tell us what they think of them.

"We have a fantastic scheme and I believe that when people see the plans they will be truly wowed by them."

Work on the project, which would be the largest single development in Suffolk since Felixstowe docks, could start before the end of the year if planning permission is granted.

While the full scheme is unlikely to be completed before August 2006, the first major part - the ice skating and concert arena - could be open by Christmas 2004.

Although the resort would be aimed mainly at tourists, it would also serve as the year-round base for the British Olympic winter sports team.

The exhibition will be open between 10am and 7.30pm today, from 8.30am to 7.30pm Tuesday to Friday and between 9am and 12noon on Saturday.