THE RIDE'S OVER! KILLER BLOW FOR £3.5BN 'BRITISH DISNEYLAND' THEME PARK IN KENT AS DEVELOPERS PUT LAND UP FOR SALE

• The plot of land is located on the Swanscombe Peninsula near Dartford, Kent

Plans for a 'British Disneyland' style theme park has been dealt a devastating blow after its land was put up for sale by developers. 

The site of the £3.5billion resort is located on 535 acres of former industrial land on the Swanscombe Peninsula near Dartford in Kent. 

The attraction was set to feature 50 rides, including eight roller coasters and different zones containing medieval castles and an Aztec pyramid, together with a 2,000-seat theatre and nightclub.

Swanscombe Development LLP had presented an option for the team behind London Resort to buy the land to build the leisure complex. 

However, that lease expired in December 2022 and has not been renewed since.  

With plans to have made it three times bigger than any other UK theme park, equivalent to 136 Wembley Stadiums, it represented the biggest investment in Europe since Disneyland Paris in 1992.  

The original site would have included a waterpark, conference and convention centre and e-Sports facility.

Over 3,500 hotel rooms were set to be created alongside two ferry terminals – one each side of the River Thames.

Politicians and local councils were optimistic about the project, hoping that the resort would bring more than 30,000 jobs - while jump-starting the economies of nearby Gravesend and Dartford.

However, dreams of a glistening new attraction to thrill-seekers in the UK now look to be in tatters. 

London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) - the company behind the plans to construct the park at a cost of £3.5 billion - had invested more than £4m in acquiring the option - which is non-refundable in the event of no purchase.

Swanscombe Development LLP, a joint venture between Aggregate Industries and Anglo American International Holdings, is now up for sale along with the freehold on the land earmarked for the theme park.

Property firm Savills is handling the sale for an undisclosed sum - and is inviting offers up until a deadline of July 26, per Kent Online.

Savills' description of the site reads: 'The land forms part of an area that is the subject of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) status relating to the proposed London Resort entertainment resort/theme park.

'It was subject to a Development Consent Order submission accepted for examination in January 2021 but later withdrawn. The London Resort scheme retains NSIP status.

'An option agreement in favour of London Resort lapsed in December 2022 and has not been renewed.'

The land is made up of the former Swanscombe Cement Works, which was shut down in 1994.

A large part of the peninsula was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England in 2021 because of its grassland, wetlands, birds, and invertebrate species – which includes of the rarest species of spiders in the UK.

Conservation groups involved in the Save Swanscombe Peninsula campaign, which is against the theme park proposals, say the possible sale of the land does not come as a surprise to them.

Sally Smith, press and advocacy officer at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: 'It hasn't come as a complete surprise, the plans for the London Resort and the theme park on the site have been dead in the water for some time.'

'We've been fighting to have that special planning removed from the site so it can be protected for nature for future generations to come'.

'While that hovers over it there is complete uncertainty as to what happens there.'

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2024-06-30T16:11:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd