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A number of wildlife organisations have called on the UK’s Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove to revoke the controversial London Resort’s status as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 31 Jul 2023
The London Resort would be the most significant theme park and resort in the UK should it come to fruition Credit: The London Resort
A number of conservation groups have written to the UK’s Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove, asking him to axe the controversial London Resort theme park development.
The project, whose parent company recently insisted they would continue despite calling in administrators, calls for a £2.5bn (US$3.2bn, €2.9bn) development on the Swanscombe Peninsula to form a theme park and wider resort development on the scale of Disneyland.
New proposals are currently being developed for resubmission to the Planning Inspectorate – the government's planning authority – later this year, however a number of wildlife organisations have written to Gove, asking him to pull the plug on the project, which is currently classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).
Normally assigned to large scale projects such as power plants, airports or major roadworks, NSIPs bypass a range of normal planning requirements. The London Resort project has been hampered by a number of issues since its announcement, including the withdrawal of key IP partners, transport issues and environmental concerns.
Among its issues, the brownfield site on which the proposed resort will be built gained added protections following its designation by Natural England as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) in 2021. The site is home to animals including water voles, otters, birds and a rare species of spider. Both ITV and the BBC had until recently been involved in the project, but both companies withdrew from the project in response to these environmental concerns.
Additionally, changes to the ports of Tilbury and Grays on the Essex side of the Thames were having an impact on the resort’s development plans.
In an open letter from The Wildlife Trusts, the coalition of charities said that revoking the NSIP direction was essential “to secure the future of this nationally important wildlife site”.
“We firmly believe, given this wealth of new information and the scaling down of the scheme, that the decision made to consider the London Resort through the DCO process should be reviewed and the development's status as a NSIP revoked,” said the letter.
“This assertion is echoed by the faltering confidence of local Members of Parliament that the plans will come to fruition, and they have dropped their initial support. It is now more essential than ever that the opportunity be taken to secure the future of this nationally important wildlife site.”
The government has said that the environmental impact of the project would be considered once a new planning application had been submitted, adding that the project “remains of national significance due to its size and importance for driving economic growth”.
Bosses of the London Resort project have also said that plans will be changed, taking into account the site’s SSSI status and will no longer spread across the whole of the 2.2sq km (0.85sq mi) wildlife site.
Theme park
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