Inside UK’s £2.5bn theme park fiasco with plans ‘dead in the water’

DREAMS of a £2.5billion ‘Disney on Thames’ theme park have been left “dead in the water” more than 10 years after plans were unveiled.

The sprawling park, named the London Resort, would have brought rides across six lands, as well as a waterpark and shopping district.

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It was to be three times larger than any other UK theme park, equivalent to 136 Wembley Stadiums, and was the biggest investment in Europe since Disneyland Paris in 1992.

Plans for the amibitious venture, based on the Swanscombe Penninsula in Kent, were first unveiled in 2012 with the park set to open six years years later.

Developers were originally in partnership with Hollywood giant Paramount Pictures with rides set to be based on blockbusters like Titanic and Mission Impossible with the resort to be named London Paramount.

I now consider the scheme to be dead in the water.

Gareth Johnson MP

The park would have brought thousands of hotel rooms, a water park and West End shows to an unfashionable backwater under an hour’s drive from London.

Politicians and local councils hoped the resort would bring more than 30,000 jobs and a much-needed boost to the economies of nearby towns Gravesend and Dartford.

But after years of promises and publicity from developers the theme park project has turned into a fiasco.

Just weeks ago, hopes were dealt a devastating final blow as the company behind the scheme called in administrators.

London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) is to enter a financial restructure through a Company Voluntary Administration.

The future of the project now remains very uncertain and local MPs have slammed developers for leaving locals in the lurch.

Gareth Johnson, MP for Dartford, told The Sun: “I now consider the scheme to be dead in the water.

“In my eyes the SSSI registration has ended the possibility of a theme park. I now see this site’s future as a nature reserve.

“The development company has consistently failed to engage with the community on this matter.

“Locals felt it was being forced upon them.”

Gravesham MP Adam Holloway urged developers to show greater “clarity” of future plans.

He said: “This matter has created far too much uncertainty over recent years.

“Many local traders and business owners have been unable to commit and invest due to the uncertainty around this site.

“I would like to thank Dr Abdulla Al- Humaidi for his commitment and investment over the years.

“Perhaps we can now have some clarity and move forward.”

TAKEN FOR A RIDE

LRCH had spearheaded plans to create a sprawling theme park – not built in the UK for years – but the dream scheme hit obstacle after obstacle.

One of the biggest blows came when Natural England decided to designate the riverside land as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 2021, after a number of rare species were confirmed to be in the area, including a tiny 1cm jumping spider.

Another complication included proposals for a new freeport across the river at Tilbury in Essex.

This was a hammer blow for the new ferry terminal envisaged as part of the theme park’s redevelopment.

LRCH first unveiled their vision for a theme park in partnership with Paramount in October 2012.

Financed by Kuwaiti European Holdings (KEH), owned by the Al-Humaidi family, the project was set to bring 33,000 jobs to Kent and transform a former brickworks which was abandoned in the 1990s.

The company held a number of public consultations over the years, when concerns emerged over parking and the impact on the local environment.

While in 2014 councillors in Gravesham were widely slammed after it was reported they were planning a £15k fact-fiding trip to a strong of Florida theme parks at tax-payers expense.

The team were to visit Disney World, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando over four days at Easter.

Then council leader Cllr John Burdern later said the trip would be “extremely busy” and “packed with serious business discussions”.

In 2017 Paramount pulled out of the deal meaning developers were forced to change the park’s name to the London Resort and lost major prestige.

Planning permission for the park was set to be submitted by the end of 2017, with hundreds of companies registering an interest in investing.

It’s been on the books for so long, I doubt very much that it will ever go ahead.

Jane Bruce

Ex-EuroDisney chief PY Gerbeau joined the London Resort as chief executive in June 2019 – after Paramount decided to rejoin the project.

Speaking at the time Mr Gerbeau said: “The new partnership with Paramount is fantastic news for everyone.

“Now the best of Hollywood will be joining the best of British from BBC Studios and ITV Studios, to create amazing and unique experiences for the whole family.

“I am delighted to join The London Resort and to play my part in helping to create a world-class destination to rival all others. Central to that strategy is to partner with the best brands from across TV, film, music and entertainment.

“Having Paramount on board is a major step towards realising that ambition.”

But last year the BBC and ITV pulled out of the scheme amid concerns from wildlife experts over the impact of the theme park.

Kuwaiti businessman Abdulla Al-Humaidi, who had been long associated with the ambitious scheme, stepped down from LRCH last year.

Then in March 2022 Mr Gerbeau announced that the London Resort would be withdrawing their planning application following the classification of Tilbury as a Freeport.

He also confirmed that the decision by Natural England to designate the site as SSSI had “impacted” the project.

Mr Gerbeau stepped down from the scheme in December last year with LRCH calling in administrators just over a year later.

For locals in Gravesend, Kent – who live less than three miles away from the proposed site – this was just the latest in a long line of disappointments.

Jane Bruce, 71, has lived in the town for 14 years, said: “It’s been on the books for so long, I doubt very much that it will ever go ahead.

“From what I’ve read it will have a devastating impact on biodiversity and that just seems very short-sighted.

“It’s also so busy around here already that I can’t imagine how we would deal with such a big influx of people.

“One little thing happens right now and it’s gridlock. If this went ahead the traffic would be a nightmare.”

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Window cleaner Tony Cox, 55, also did not expect any fun at the fair anytime soon.

He said: “It’s pretty unlikely to ever happen I’d say. Even if it does go ahead it’s at least 20 years away. We take so long to do anything in this country.

“I don’t think it will do much to rejuvenate the area to be honest. Everywhere you go is flats, there’s no shops about as it is.

“A theme park would not help with the town centre being empty. I think the money would actually go away from the town even more and towards the theme park, so it would probably just make the problem worse.

“The business will go where the people are. You won’t get businesses in the town because they’ll want to be near the theme park.”

Wendy Palmer, 76, has lived in the town for 56 years and said she had seen the town’s economy nosedive in that time.

She said: “I’m in favour of it in general, it would be nice to have some investment in the area, but it’s had such a rocky history that it’s hard to see it ever happening.

“The town is in such a dire way that anything that would bring jobs and people to the area would be welcome.

“But my gut feeling is that this isn’t going to happen. They might keep trying but there are too many issues and the cost will just keep increasing and increasing until it becomes too expensive to proceed.”

Hayley Fuller has also lived in Gravesend her entire life and did not think the proposals were a good idea for the town.

The 39-year-old said she hoped that the town centre was in dz

She said: “We don’t need a theme park, we need some decent shops in the town. We’ve got nothing except pound shops and takeaway shops.

“The only benefit I can see with the theme park is that it might give the youngsters something to do rather than stand about it in the streets and cause trouble.

“But will this place even let them in or will the locals be priced out of entering anyway? I just don’t see it really making much difference.”

Gravesham Borough Council said it was “yet to see” any future proposals for a theme park at the site.

A spokesman told The Sun: “We have responded to previous consultations stating our support for the London Resort proposals, subject to progress being seen to be made on outstanding issues the developers had been asked to consider.

“However, that proposal has now been withdrawn and we have yet to see details of any new proposals from the developers. Until we see any new proposals, it is impossible for us to take a view on them.

“There has been one fact finding trip to Florida, which took place in 2014. There have been none more recently than that.”

LRCH said bringing in administrators was the “logical and sensible step” but did not comment on the future of a theme park on the site.

However, it claimed new proposals for the development to be submitted later this year.

A spokesman said: “Many millions have been invested into the Swanscombe Peninsula over the last decade and there remains a fantastic opportunity to bring forward exciting proposals.”