Plans for a ‘British Disneyland’-style theme park have suffered a huge blow after developers put the site up for sale.
The site of the The £3.5 billion resort is set on 535 acres of former industrial land on the Swanscombe Peninsula near Dartford in Kent.
The attraction would feature 50 rides, including eight roller coasters and several zones with medieval castles and an Aztec pyramid, along with a 2,000-seat theater and a nightclub.
Swanscombe Development LLP had presented an option to the team behind London Resort to purchase the land to build the leisure complex.
However, that lease expired in December 2022 and has not been renewed since.
A British theme park has suffered a devastating blow after its land was put up for sale by developers
The theme park, nicknamed ‘British Disneyland’, is located on a 535-acre former industrial site on the Swanscombe Peninsula, near Dartford, Kent.
The attraction would feature 50 rides, including eight roller coasters and several zones featuring medieval castles and an Aztec pyramid, along with a 2,000-seat theater and nightclub
With plans to make the park three times the size of any other theme park in the UK, equivalent to 136 Wembley stadiums, this was the largest investment in Europe since Disneyland Paris in 1992.
The original location would include a water park, conference and convention center and e-sports facility.
More than 3,500 hotel rooms would be built next to two ferry terminals, one on each side of the Thames.
Politicians and local authorities were optimistic about the project, hoping the resort would create more than 30,000 jobs while boosting the economies of the nearby towns of Gravesend and Dartford.
But the dream of a new, glittering attraction for thrill-seekers in the UK now appears to be falling apart.
London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) – the company behind the £3.5 billion plans to build the park – had invested more than £4 million in acquiring the option – which is non-refundable if no purchase is made.
Swanscombe Development LLP, a joint venture between Aggregate Industries and Anglo American International Holdings, is now for sale, along with the freehold on the land earmarked for the theme park.
Property firm Savills is handling the sale for an undisclosed sum and is inviting bids until a deadline of July 26 per KentOnline.
Savills’ description of the site reads: ‘The land is part of an area that is the subject of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) status in relation to the proposed entertainment resort/theme park London Resort.
‘It was subject to a Development Consent Order application which was accepted for examination in January 2021 but later withdrawn. The London Resort scheme retains NSIP status.
‘An option agreement in favor of London Resort expired in December 2022 and has not been extended.’
The land consists of the former Swanscombe Cement Works, which closed in 1994
A map showing a proposed layout for the theme park, which now looks increasingly unlikely to be built
The site consists of the former Swanscombe Cement Works, which closed in 1994.
Much of the peninsula was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England in 2021 for its grasslands, wetlands, birds and invertebrate species, including some of the rarest spider species in the UK.
Conservation groups involved in the Save Swanscombe Peninsula campaign, which opposes the plans for the theme park, say the potential sale of the land comes as no surprise to them.
Sally Smith, press officer at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: “It wasn’t a complete surprise – plans for the London Resort and theme park on the site had been on hold for some time.”
“We fought to have that special planning removed from the site so it could be protected for nature for future generations.”
‘As long as that hangs over there, there is complete uncertainty about what is happening there.’
