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The Wave: Bristol is a proposed park, centred on an artificial wave pool for surfing, at Easter Compton in South Gloucestershire, England, on the northern outskirts of Bristol. It is planned to open in 2017.
History
The co-founders of the scheme were Nick Hounsfield and Tobin Coles. They named the scheme "The Wave: Bristol" in 2012, initially focussing on a site next to the Portway in Bristol, but rejected it as not big enough. A 40-acre (16 ha) site on farmland at Easter Compton was selected in 2013, with the technology generating the artificial waves to be supplied by the Spanish company Wavegarden.
In June 2014 South Gloucestershire Council approved the £6.2 million scheme, which is designed for sustainability. The Olympic medallist Jenny Jones spoke in support of the project at the planning meeting, citing the social benefits of engaging all ages in the activities at the park. Besides the wave pool, the scheme will include a natural swimming lake, barefoot trails, foraging areas and gardens of various types - activity, sensory, healing, culinary and herb gardens. Other proposed features include a clubhouse, a surf shop, a ropes and tunnels course and a campsite. The planned dimensions of the pool are 300 metres (980 ft) long by 100 metres (330 ft) wide and 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) deep.
In June 2015 it was decided to use the American company Wave Loch's wave generation technology instead of Wavegarden's, requiring the opening date to be put back to 2016. It will be the world's first full-scale implementation of Wave Loch's SurfPool technology, which uses air pressure to generate the waves, requiring no machinery in the water. It will produce 1.5-metre (4 ft 11 in) waves with left and right breaks across three zones, with up to six surfers riding each wave. There will be up to eight waves per minute, and each surfer will be able to catch up to 20 waves per hour. The pool will have a paddle out channel. The SurfPool technology also offers the ability to easily change the height and shape of waves for advanced surfing, and The Wave plans to host a High-Performance Surfing Centre and surf contests.
In April 2016, The Wave announced that South Gloucestershire Council had approved the revised designs. It plans to raise a further £3.8 million, on top of £1.1 million already raised, and expects to open in 2017.
