Sherwood Forest project: Plans for £5.3m visitor centre unveiled

The plans will be discussed with local residents before a final submission is prepared for the council

The proposed design for a new £5.3m visitor centre in Nottinghamshire's Sherwood Forest have been unveiled to the public for the first time.

The centre will replace a dilapidated 1970s complex that will be torn down.

A consortium led by the RSPB will build the attraction on a new site on the edge of the forest.

Some nearby residents have expressed concerns the new location will create noise and parking problems.

The centre will be built It will be built at Forest Corner, close to Edwinstowe village.

"If there are hundreds of cars coming and going and you are sitting in the your garden with car doors banging and engines running - it will spoil what we've got," one local resident told BBC News.

But Ross Frazer, RSPB Project Manager said: "We've had a positive dialogue with the community and businesses around Edwinstowe and have taken on board the ideas and concerns expressed."

Adrian Wilson, of the Friends of Sherwood Forest, said "parking will be a nightmare" at the site while bats and birds will be disturbed.

He said the retail offering at the proposed site was being promoted over educational activities.

The final plans for the new centre will be submitted to Newark and Sherwood District Council for planning approval later in the year.

The last project proposed for Sherwood Forest in 2012 - a £13m theme park which included a medieval-style village fair, a wildlife dome, an open-air theatre, a torture chamber-themed attraction, and an adventure play area - was abandoned when investment fell through.

Robin Hood's neighbourhood

The Major Oak, where Robin Hood hid in medieval times according to legend, is located in the Sherwood Forest Country Park

• The forest is famous for its role in the Robin Hood legend

• Around 350,000 people visit the Sherwood Forest Country Park each year

• The forest is the venue for the Robin Hood Festival

• The Major Oak, which was named England's Tree of the Year in 2014, is located there