By John HowardTHE developer behind the SnOasis winter sports complex remained confident last night it would get the go-ahead – despite revelations a similar scheme was rejected due to traffic worries.

By John Howard

THE developer behind the SnOasis winter sports complex remained confident last night it would get the go-ahead – despite revelations a similar scheme was rejected due to traffic worries.

Godfrey Spanner, managing director of developers Onslow Suffolk Ltd – which wants to build the

£320million SnOasis in the county – insisted the project would get the green light and said it would bring a major boost to the region's economy.

Mid Suffolk District Council has received three planning applications relating to the SnOasis development, earmarked for Great Blakenham, near Ipswich.

If approved, they would create the multi-million-pound winter sports complex at the former Blue Circle cement works, a new railway station and 537 homes, shops and community facilities.

The SnOasis development planning application includes a 500m long piste, a nine-hole golf course, 350 self-catering lodges, a four-star 350-bed hotel, 18 restaurants, a nightclub, an eight-screen cinema and a casino.

But residents concerned about the impact of the proposed development said the Suffolk scheme was similar to a previous proposal for a winter sports complex at another Blue Circle Quarry in Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex, and said that failed to go ahead due to environmental and traffic concerns.

They said it is a major issue that such a similar development has previously been submitted elsewhere in the country and been rejected on environmental and traffic grounds, essentially because of their concerns about the congestion on the roads that SnOasis could cause.

However, Mr Spanner said last night: "The Shoreham by Sea project was nothing to do with me whatsoever. We will get the SnOasis bid, there is nothing that can not be solved.

"Any concerns that are outstanding, once we have heard and discussed them, people will find we will do everything possible to allay them.

"The Eden Project was bigger and more frightening to people, but it worked beautifully and it benefits the economy. I do not see why we cannot bring the same benefits to Suffolk."

john.howard@eadt.co.uk