€2.5 billion theme park for south east England

A £2 billion (€2.47 billion) Hollywood-style theme park is being planned for a site in south eastern England by a consortium of UK and international companies.

The proposed development is on the Swanscombe Peninsula in the River Thames, in North Kent, and will be on a 353ha brown-field site close to the Ebbsfleet International Eurostar station.

It is claimed that it will be one of the largest regeneration projects in Europe, creating up to 27,000 jobs and integrating the development into the local communities of Dartford and Gravesham.

Development firm London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) has signed an agreement with Paramount Licensing, the licensing division for Hollywood-based Paramount Pictures, to give exclusive UK licensing for a Paramount entertainment resort at the heart of the site.

The agreement does not include investment from Paramount Licensing in the project. LRCH said it was also in negotiations with a range of major British brands to sign licensing agreements.

LRCH has assembled a development team which includes Development Securities, a development and investment company, the principal land owner Lafarge, and global construction company Brookfield Multiplex.

The team is supported by a host of consultants and operators who will help deliver the scheme, said LRCH.

The core of the proposed development will be Europe’s leading entertainment destination, it said, “with a Paramount-branded entertainment resort and leisure district providing the highest quality visitor experience”.

Europe’s largest indoor water park, theatres, live music venues, cinemas, restaurants, event space and hotels are all in the plans.

LRCH said an independent feasibility study had suggested that the entertainment destination would draw in many additional tourists to the UK each year. Ebbsfleet International station would provide a 17-minute journey time into London, and a two-hour journey to Paris.

Tony Sefton, project leader for LRCH, said, “We are at the start of a long journey, but have been encouraged by the support and buy-in we have had to date. We are particularly pleased with the appetite we are seeing from investors, who consider this a compelling investment proposition.”

He added, “Post-Olympics, this is Britain’s next major regeneration opportunity. Over the next 12 to18 months we will be progressing the planning application, while embarking on a wide-reaching programme of community consultation, while securing further commercial agreements with third parties.

“Our timetable for delivery, including the planning application process and construction timetable, is geared towards completion and opening in 2018.”

LRCH said it had been working closely with both Dartford and Gravesham Borough Councils, who have both offered support for the project.