A TikTok has gone viral of a man visiting the Swanscombe Peninsula which is home to plans for a £2.5billion theme park dubbed the “UK Disneyland”.
Due to be three times larger than any other UK theme park, the plans have received high controversy since the project was introduced 10 years ago.
A TikTok user recently visited the land which the park is supposed to be built on and says Swanscombe Peninsula is a “massive barren bit of Wasteland” but building the theme park would give people a “reason to visit Kent”.
Plans for the park, which were reportedly introduced as the London Paramount Park, were first revealed in 2012, with plans to open the park six years later.
Recently, the company behind the resort, London Resort Company Holding, called in the administrators which has left plans up in the air.
Set to be the size of 136 Wembley Stadiums and the biggest investment in Europe since Disneyland Paris in 1992, the theme park was expected to open its doors on the Swanscombe Peninsula, with plans to give the communities of Gravesend and Dartford in Kent a much needed boost.
@philc84 visited the land and his video has more than one million views and over 100,000 likes.
In the video, @philc84 says: “Thorpe Park is about 75 acres and Alton Towers is about 550 acres.
“This would be 1100 acres which isn't quite as big as Disneyland Paris, but it's well on the way there.
“We’re on the Swanscombe Peninsula to the east of London which is just basically a massive barren bit of Wasteland.
“The planning process for something like this was always going to be lengthy.”
@philc84 I’ve wanted them to build a super theme park for years so have been following this. #themeparktiktok #themeparkrides #themeparkuk #thorpepark #altontowers ♬ original sound - Phil
The TikTok user says having Paramount Pictures on board was a “great group” to build a theme park, as they own films such as Indiana Jones and Transformers, but in 2017 Paramount pulled out and replaced with BBC and ITV.
@philc84 added in the video: “But then last year, the BBC and ITV pulled out last week the company trying to build what's called the London resort went into administration because they've spent 100 million pounds on it and they haven't even put a spade in the ground yet.
“Why?
“Well, several reasons but mainly nature up here - there's a little one centimetre jumping spider and there's some archaeology and a few other bits and pieces, which is a pity, but the management company are being bloody minded, and they said they are going to come back with new plans.”
Building the theme park would give people a “reason to visit Kent”, @Philc84 says, as it’s “next to Blue Water – so the whole family could come for two or three days go to the resorts go on the ride, go shopping”.
@Philc84 said: “The only problems would be we are to the east of London and to the north of Kent, so it is the spiritual home of organised crime and traffic.
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“The roads around here are gridlocked at the best of time, so throw in demand for 25,000 parking spaces at a massive theme park and you need to be greeted by the force lawyers at the gates as you arrive.
“I hope they build something up here because I love theme parks.
“I love the idea of huge bits of engineering existing simply to bring joy to people and I love the way how theme parks attract people from all corners of society and compact them all into a small space so they have to interact with each other the only place I can think of with the same dynamic on motorway service stations.”
The Sun reports that Gareth Johnson, MP for Dartford said: “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.”
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