London Resort

London Resort
London Resort Company Holdings Limited
Formerly called
 London Paramount Entertainment Resort
Theme parks and resorts
Headquarters Sky Light City Tower, London, United Kingdom

The London Resort is a proposed entertainment complex in Swanscombe, Kent. The project was announced on 8 October 2012 and it is estimated to open by around 2022.

Resort Proposal

The proposed plan for London Resort included an entertainment street, a water park, a theme park, approximately 5,000 hotel rooms and a monorail service linking the resort to Ebbsfleet International station.

Development

The site straddles the border of the Dartford and Gravesham boroughs and both authorities have pledged their support.[1] In July 2014 the first community consultation was held with a short series of exhibitions in the area around the peninsula.[2]

The timetable for delivery, including the planning application process and construction timetable, is geared towards completion and opening in 2019.[3] A planning application to Dartford Borough Council is expected to be made in 2015.[4] The project leader is Tony Sefton of London Resort Company Holdings.

In April 2013 newspaper reports[5] claimed development may be delayed by the discovery of a rare species of spider. Mr. Sefton pledged to remove the colony of distinguished jumping spiders (Sitticus distinguendus) to another suitable site.

The following month, the Kent Messenger reported[6] that plans for the theme park could be endangered if a new lower Thames road crossing is sited over the Swanscombe Peninsula and quoted Mr. Sefton as saying "It could really scupper plans. We are in the final throes of negotiating a very large investment and this makes it very difficult." However, the proposal was rejected in December of that year.[7]

The park may spur the development of a new Garden City development at nearby Ebbsfleet.[8][9]

Infrastructure and Transport

The closest station to the proposed site is Swanscombe served by Southeastern services from London Charing Cross via Sidcup and Dartford to Gravesend. A short distance away, Ebbsfleet International is a High Speed 1 station. Trains run from London St Pancras (17 minutes), Paris Gare du Nord (North), Brussels-South and in the future, Amsterdam Centraal; London Resort Company holdings predict the park will add two to three million passengers a year to the HS1 line. A new monorail may take passengers from Ebbsfleet International station[10] to the New Paramount resort. A further 250,000 people may travel directly to the park from central London by 'water taxis' along the River Thames; project leader Tony Sefton has said he aims for the park to have the "lowest modal mix" of car park spaces of any similar resort in the world.[11]

Changes to local infrastructure will be necessary to accommodate millions of additional visitors annually to North West Kent, though it is possible the route of a planned new Thames road crossing may be in part decided as a result of this development.

Crossrail's route may be altered to run as far east as Hoo Junction, just beyond Gravesend, Kent; there are no firm plans to run trains beyond Abbey Wood in south east London. It is not known if the plans for Paramount London will create a viable case for Crossrail services to serve the park. The Hoo Peninsula was also one of the proposed Thames Estuary airport sites, although this was rejected in 2014 in favour of expansion at either Heathrow or Gatwick airports. There are also plans to create a road joining the theme park onto the A2 in Kent.

Environmental Concerns

The development would be built on 872 acres of mostly saltmarsh (and a small amount of brownfield land) on the Swanscombe peninsula, part of the Environmentally Sensitive Area known as North Kent Marshes, and be twice the size of the Olympic Park in East London. The development would lie in the floodplain of the Inner Thames,[12] using up one of the few remaining patches of the floodplain that is wild and undeveloped, and which is also used to accept floodwaters in order to reduce the pressure on the critical flood defences of the river. There is also concern[13][14][15] given the marshland in question is home to several species which are endangered in the UK, including; the Distinguished Jumping Spider, Water Vole, and Marsh Harrier.[16]

After Paramount withdrew from the project, London Resort Company Holdings insisted the project would continue as planned but without the Paramount brand.

In July 2017, it was rumoured by various sources within the theme park community that the developers were in talks with NBC Universal about creating a Universal Theme Park on the site.

References

  1. ↑ "Reaction to £2bn Paramount theme park for Kent". Kent Messenger Group.
  2. ↑ Price, Chris. Kent Online. Kent Messenger http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/paramount-park-to-unveil-plans-19496/. Retrieved 1 July 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ Webb, Sam (8 October 2012). "Daily Mail". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  4. ↑ . Dartford Messenger. 10 July 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ "The Independent". London. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "KM Online". Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Option B thrown out in Lower Thames Crossing debate". Echo News. Newsquest (Essex) Ltd. Retrieved 12 Dec 2012.
  8. ↑ "15,000-home garden city to be built at Ebbsfleet". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Price, Chris. "Paramount Park developers reveal goal to begin construction". Kent Online. Kent Messenger. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  10. ↑ International, Ebbsfleet. "London Paramount resort to rival Disneyland park, Paris". Ebbsfleet International. Ebbsfleet International. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  11. ↑ Price, Chris. Kent Online. Kent Messenger http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/paramount-team-construction-19946/. Retrieved 10 July 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ "Environment Agency – Flood map, Northfleet (Kent)". the Environment Agency (HM Govt.). Retrieved 17/08/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  13. ↑ "About Swanscombe Marshes". Save Swanscombe Marshes. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  14. ↑ "SAVE SWANSCOMBE MARSHES – SAY NO TO LONDON PARAMOUNT". 38 Degress. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  15. ↑ "Stop London Paramount / Save Swanscombe Marshes". Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  16. ↑ "Marsh Harrier". RSPB. Retrieved 17/08/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
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