Kent, England | The London Resort | Entertainment Complex

[Lofty]

I can't wait to see what their halloween events gonna be like!!!

:wink:

Marc you've got a great point there.

There's far too many contributing factors for any of us to be able to work out the actual figures of what percentage comes from their 'midway attractions'.

We can discuss it until the end of the world but we won't get anywhere without knowing the actual figures which as far as I know, aren't public knowledge.

As I said above, Merlin won't shut down Thorpe or Chessington. It just won't happen.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Sorry but couldn't resist

 

[Nic]

Very kind of you to help fund this, Sue ;-)

Gravesham Council will fly 4,369 miles to Orlando in the US to see at “close quarters” the issues created by a world class leisure project.

The three-day trip, according to the council, will cost £15,441, and will include visits of Disney World, Universal Studios and Island Adventure.

The five councillors, including leader John Burden, and four council officers on the trip will learn of the issues created by these tourist attractions ahead of the building of the £2 billion resort planned for Swanscombe Peninsula, announced in November 2012.

The trip has been organised with developers London Resort Company Holdings who are behind plans for the £2 billion Paramount Park development in Swanscombe Peninsula.

The project will create 27,000 jobs in North Kent from the 70-acre site of mainly derelict land which straddles the border between Gravesend and Dartford.

The councillors on the visit are: Cllr John Burden (leader of the executive), Cllr Jane Cribbon (chair of the regulatory board), Cllr Andrea Webb (cabinet member for communities), Cllr John Cubitt (leader of the opposition group), and Cllr Robin Theobald (planning shadow lead member). Officers going are: Kevin Burbidge, director of housing and regeneration, economic development manager Simon Hookway, principal planning officer Peter Price and Wendy Lane, principal planner (policy).

http://www.gravesendreporter.co.uk/news ... _1_3485014

Also, pmsl that their leader is cllr BURDEN! Lol

 

[Mysterious Sue]

That's actually hilarious. This week they've actually begun shutting off our street lights between midnight and 6 in the morning, so I guess that's how they are funding it. PMSL at Mr Burden, and at 'Island Adventure'.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

I don't wanna go to Sueland!!

 

[EthC]

The project has been deemed a project of national significance by the government, clearing a pathway for faster development of the project according to some reports. This has to be great news now, first new theme park in decades, should be great!

Paramount Pictures theme park is the first leisure development to be considered under the scheme, which has typically been used for power regeneration projects, plus major transport and infrastructure upgrades.

Dartford and Gravesham borough councils have already voiced support for the project, which could create up to 27,000 jobs.

The landmark resort is earmarked for the area alongside the recently announced £200m Ebbsfleet garden citybeing built to help ease the south east’s housing shortage.

“The Secretary of State considers this proposal would be likely to have significant economic impact, be important in driving growth in the economy, and that it would also have an impact on an area wider than a single local authority area,” said a statement from the Department of Communities and Local Government.

“The Secretary of State also considers that the substantial physical size of the proposal is relevant to his decision that this project is of national and substantial significance.

As part of the plans, nine Gravesham district council bosses flew out to the US to research Florida’s theme parks, to help the authority prepare for the new attraction and “understand what works and what doesn’t” when running a global attraction.

Planned for 2018, the Paramount Pictures-branded resort will be at the heart of the 872 acre (1.3sq m, 3.5sq km) site – to be built on what is currently a brownfield site in the Swanscombe Peninsula. It will be one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe and among the four largest theme parks anywhere in the world.

Plans include a massive indoor water park, as well as theatres, music venues, attractions, cinemas, restaurants, event space and hotel developments.

London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) – the company behind the proposed development – has signed an agreement with Paramount Pictures, to give exclusive UK licensing for a Paramount entertainment resort at the heart of the site while the LRCH is also in negotiations with a range of major British brands to sign further licensing agreements.

Source:http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/detail.cfm?pagetype=detail&subject=news&codeID=309298&sitecode=FB#sthash.k82XM3he.izvh8bot.dpuf

 

[Ian]

It's all well and good people heading out on jolly outings to the USA, but it would be nice to see some hard progress being made. Then again, with four years until the projected opening date, I doubt we'll see anything significant for a year or two.

 

[Ian]

Year long consultation taking place...

Almost 90,000 letters have been sent out across Kent, UK, seeking the views of local households and businesses as plans to build the world’s fourth-largest theme park at nearby Ebbsfleet push forward.

The £2bn (US$3.3bn, €2.5bn) development was classified in May as a ‘project of national significance’ project of national significance by the British government. As a consequence, the resort will benefit from an accelerated planning application process. In the year prior to submitting its application, London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH), the firm behind the project, has said it will engage with the local community during a four-part consultation process.

Four public exhibitions are scheduled to take place this month, and the community has been asked to attend the exhibitions, ask questions and provide feedback to LRCH. According to the developer, these observations will flag up the issues on which local people want to be consulted.

“[We want to find] the most appropriate and accessible way for people to be involved in our proposals for the London Paramount Entertainment Resort,” said LRCH director Fenlon Dunphy. “The first stage of public exhibitions is specifically designed to establish the preferred communication and consultation methods of the local community and interested parties.”

The London Paramount Entertainment Resort, due to open 2018, will be built on an 872 acre (1.3sq m, 3.5sq km) site and will generate an estimated 27,000 jobs, making it one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe and the fourth-largest theme park in the world.

For those reasons, the government recognised it as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). NSIPs are major infrastructure developments, which can include major leisure, stadia and business schemes as well as power plants, large renewable energy projects and major road projects, which are considered to be of national importance.

Because of its NSIP status, the planning application will not be submitted to or decided by the local authority, but the government’s Planning Inspectorate. - See more at: http://www.attractionsjobs.com/detail.c ... D92mY.dpuf

The public exhibitions will be held:

Thursday, July 10 from 2pm to 8pm
Ebbsfleet Academy (in the sports hall)

Friday, July 11 from 11am to 2pm
Eastgate (North Kent Community Church)

Friday, July 11 from 4.30pm to 8pm
British Legion Greenhithe

Saturday, July 12 from noon to 5pm
Swanscombe Leisure Centre

Anybody going?

90,000 letters, eh? That's a potential 89,900 NIMBYers then.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Yeah I'll go to one of them. I'll take pics if there are any models and that. Let me know if anyone has any questions.

 

[marc]

Does seem like it's serious then to be going to that stage.

Sue I will have a think.

 

[Lofty]

:lol: I can't actually wait until people start to take this project seriously and stop being utterly doubtful it'll collapse. I have my utter faith in it and am looking forward to what the future holds

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Just got my letter. Apparently the plans include a monorail to my local station, Ebbsfleet (which the Eurostar comes into). Nice!

It will be called the 'London Paramount Entertainment Resort'. Not the catchiest title ever...

Projected opening date of 2019.

 

[davidm]

Same info as on the website that letter mentions;

http://londonparamount.info/

Website says that the info at the public presentations will be online on that site from the 10th July.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Just got back from the first public consultation thingy. I was hoping that there would be something exciting to see, like a model or at least a map with some land zoning on it. Sadly, there was zero new information on show that we haven't seen already. This was all about them getting ideas back from the local people and seeing what people want/would not tolerate in their area.

There were six display boards (which I've posted below) and some comment sheets that we could fill in. The first board showed a map of the proposed site - the main area on the peninsular is where the park will go. The thinner area to the south is just land they have set aside for transport links.

Most people there (including myself as a local resident) had concerns over possible traffic problems and that was all anyone really wanted to talk about. The people answering the questions were from a separate PR company - not even from LRCH, the holding company who had provided the plans. The major points I got from speaking to them were as follows:

- I tried to push them to say how much of an important element the theme park/water park would be. The site seems to have about 6 different possible uses at the moment (hotels, shopping, sports facilities, business hub, cinemas). Basically, they don't know what they want to do with it (or wouldn't say). But the theme park appears to be a much more important part that I originally thought it might.

- The next consultation will be in Oct/Nov and should include a map showing the area given over to the theme park.

- Planning applications won't be submitted until next year.

-They are still in consultation with the land owners - Lafarge. Even the boundaries shown on the map below are not definite. (There was also a guy there whose house is in the middle of the site and from the questions he was asking, I'm pretty sure they hadn't contacted him about buying up land yet).

-They haven't looked into what they are going to do about transport yet. They may need to widen/put in new roads ect. which they would have to pay for. There is no Government money available for this.

-They kept talking about utilising the river and bringing people in from London on the river which could be nice for the tourists. There is also the plan of the dedicated monorail link to Ebbsfleet station and Europe.


Have some rather useless pictures of their boards. The last one has contact details including their FB page which is now up and running.

So not much of use yet, but if it does go ahead, it will be nice to have seen it all right from the start

I've asked to go along to one of their public workshop things, which are part of the next consultation process.

 

[gavin]

I've never been to a town meeting like that. Was it as hilarious as The Simpsons and Parks and Recreation has led me to believe?

 

[nadroJ]

"Monoraaaillll"

 

[Ian]

Thanks for going, Sue. Did you ask them how many creds they are planning on getting?

 

[Lofty]

Hahaha - it will go ahead, definitively.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

They had no idea how much land was being given over to the theme park, let alone how many creds they would have! The PR people had only been briefed to talk about traffic and other local concerns and knew zip about the project itself. I think give it a few months and try and contact them, by which time they might have a better idea of what's going on.

And Gavin yes it was all very Parks and Recreation (love that show) haha. I've been to a few before. My area is always getting redeveloped - channel tunnel, Bluewater, A2 widening, Europe's largest cyclopark..but most I've been to included models and had useful people to talk to and were further down the planning phase.

 

[davidm]

there is a PDF download of the display material (i.e. what the Mysterious one posted above) available here;

http://londonparamount.info/media/1017/ ... stands.pdf