Waterfront resort ups Southport ambitions by £35m

Originally a £40m surf park, The Cove Resort is shaping up to be a £75m all-day visitor destination with a leisure beach, thermal spa, and hotel.

Plans for The Cove Resort were first unveiled in October 2020. The resort is set to be located on council-owned land at Princes Park and is being developed under a deal between Sefton Council and Southport-based company Go Surf.

Go Surf co-founder Tony Howard said the increased price tag was due to the project expanding its focus and increasing its scale.

“Very early on in the formation of our concept we saw the advent of ‘surf parks’ which are aimed primarily at drawing in a high throughput of surfers, however, we chose a very different path,” Howard said.

“Our beautiful lagoon with its open waters provides the setting around which all the leisure and relaxation facilities sit. The experience is for everyone.”

The lagoon is part of the leisure beach section of The Cove Resort, which will offer indoor swimming, surfing and other water activities.

As part of the push to attract more than surfers, The Cove Resort team is working with Canadian water park designer Whitewater West to create a lagoon whose wave-making machinery is hidden.

“The issue when you focus so intently on high surfer throughput is that the engineering and its visual prominence limits versatility and the broader appeal,” Howard explained. He went on to describe how the new design offers a “visually uninterrupted 360-degree boardwalk”, with views of the coastline and marine lake.

“There is no lagoon quite like this planned anywhere else in the UK”, Howard added.

The Cove Resort thermal spa is designed to pay tribute to the town’s history as a Victorian seaside resort that was rich in hydropathy attractions. Howard’s vision includes steam rooms, saunas, a flotation pool and Turkish baths. The hotel would offer four-star hotel accommodation in an attempt to encourage visitors to stick around the town.

“In 2019 Southport attracted 9 million visitors which were mainly day-trippers,” Howard said. “We believe that the town and its location have all the ingredients to attract more visitors from the entire UK and perhaps beyond.”

Later, he continued: “Southport is the Northwest’s ‘Coastal Playground’, and we wish to enhance that and promote it widely. Everything about our resort including its ambition, quality, and scale, with a price tag of £75M, is aimed at bringing more people to our beautiful town, coast, and region.”

The scheme is currently in the pre-application process, with aims to begin public consultations soon. Howard said the resort could open as early as 2025.

The project team for The Cove Resort includes construction consultant Ward Williams Associates and architect Leonard Design.