It has been announced that plans for a massive resort to rival Disneyland have been withdrawn. The huge theme park was set to be located on the Swanscombe Peninsula near South East London and was due to open in 2025, making it less than a three hour trip from Nottingham.
Artists' drawings signalled that the resort would include beaming lights pointing up to the night sky with an huge medieval-style castle and lava waterfalls. The park would have been the size of 136 Wembley Stadiums, KentLive reports.
Despite excitement from thrill-seekers, the proposal faced hurdles along the way due to the pandemic, and last year Natural England designated the site where it was due to be built a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). In a letter sent in late November to the Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate, the resort's CEO PY Gerbeau said that following the decision there would not be "material changes" to the resort's application, but instead, there will be "subtle changes in the green infrastructure strategy".
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However, The London Resort has today (March 29) announced on its website that the current application has been withdrawn. In a statement, Mr Gerbeau said: “In the best interests of the London Resort, we are withdrawing the current application; as a result of the classification of Tilbury as a Freeport which has meant revisions are required in moving the ferry terminal from Tilbury to Grays. We are working closely and collaborating with Thurrock Council on that matter.
"This issue, combined with the decision by Natural England to designate a brownfield contaminated site as an SSSI has impacted the project. We in turn have acquired significant land holdings as part of our mitigation strategy combined with our commitment to spend £150m on environmental improvements on the peninsula. These changes are considered material and as such require withdrawal and resubmission."
He added: "We have repeatedly petitioned for latitude, extensions of time and of course understanding from the Examining Authority and the Planning Inspectorate. Their teams have been extremely supportive, but we recognise that the best route for the Project is through withdrawal and resubmission of a fresh DCO application within this calendar year.
"We will continue our engagement with the local community, statutory bodies, landowners and others to make sure we can reach as many agreements as possible before resubmission. Make no mistake we are still 100% committed to this amazing project and we will resubmit before the end of 2022 and look forward to delivering a world-class entertainment resort – the UK deserves better and we will make it happen!”
