#InlandWaters - An articificial lake will be the centrepiece of a new holiday retreat near Lough Ree, as The Irish Times reports.

Center Parcs' Longford Forest is set to go before planners next month, but the adventure village chain has already revealed its proposals for the 150-hectare site in Newcastle Wood near Ballymahon, Co Longford.

These comprise 500 chalets, including a number of treehouses, and amenities such as shops and restaurants situated around an artifical lake an an indoor "subtropical swimming centre".

The proposed location, owned by Coillte, is currently home to some 50 fallow deer that would have to be relocated to adjacent woodland during construction for the park, scheduled to open in 2019.

Meanwhile, Center Parcs says the vast majority of local people back its €100 million plans for Newcastle Wood, expected to boost significantly boost tourism to that corner of the Lakelands region.

And as Ronan McGreevy writes in The Irish Times, "it is hard to find anyone in Longford who is not enthusiastic about the prospect of Center Parcs coming to the county." More on the story HERE.