Ambitious plans have been unveiled for a 15-acre inland surf park in Coleshill, less than seven miles from Birmingham city centre.
Emerge Surf has filed a planning application for the £25m outdoor sports project, which is set to include a 5.4-acre surf lagoon, an outdoor heated swimming pool, a perimeter track for Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards and a 1,600sq m hub building.
The Emerge Surf Birmingham project will also be home to a surf school, surf shop, café and restaurant, multi-purpose fitness studio, physio and massage room and children’s play area. The surfing lagoon will use Wavegarden’s Cove technology to create the waves.
Initial plans, subject to planning approval, show construction commencing late this year and the park opening in spring 2021.
Emerge Surf Birmingham is expected to attract around 250,000 visitors a year and deliver an annual economic boost of between £18m and £21m to the region.
The development is aiming to use renewable energy and low carbon technologies to keep environmental impact to a minimum.
Steve Price, founder and CEO of Emerge Surf, said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time in the development of surfing.
"The mental and physical benefits of the sport are increasingly understood and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will hugely increase levels of interest and participation. In parallel, the significant strides made in wave pool technologies have the potential to make the sport accessible to all."
