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Potential New Universal UK Park

Tom said:
There is a massive difference here compared with the London Resort. The current 'feasibility' stage is effectively 'will they let us build it'. The market sensibility will have been decided long ago. It's going to happen.
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I agree there is a difference with the London Resort, they've bought the land for a start after all! But at the same time what proof is there that the resort as you put it, is going to happen? There's no outline published for what's going where, no transport plan, no tangible community engagement away from "hi we're Universal" and no kind of application submitted yet.

We are years away from this theme park being built, market conditions change, company priorities change - no matter how large they are and hurdles can be put up by stakeholders as they see some tangible plans. Until we start to see construction, no one can truthfully say this project is going to happen. It's right that some people, including myself continue to express some reservations at this stage of the project and look at things objectively. A simple phrase sums it up - enjoy the ride and don't get too carried away!
 
Craig said:
I agree there is a difference with the London Resort, they've bought the land for a start after all! But at the same time what proof is there that the resort as you put it, is going to happen? There's no outline published for what's going where, no transport plan, no tangible community engagement away from "hi we're Universal" and no kind of application submitted yet.

We are years away from this theme park being built, market conditions change, company priorities change - no matter how large they are and hurdles can be put up by stakeholders as they see some tangible plans. Until we start to see construction, no one can truthfully say this project is going to happen. It's right that some people, including myself continue to express some reservations at this stage of the project and look at things objectively. A simple phrase sums it up - enjoy the ride and don't get too carried away!
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For me, it is mainly about the circumstances.
  1. It's Universal, not some chancers.
  2. It costs a lot of resource to even engage at the level they currently are. There will have been masses of pre-research.
  3. The government will be desperate to OK the investment, calling in the application even if it isn't made a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) at the early stages.
"It's going to happen" may be a little OTT at this stage, I concede, but in my view it's likely to come to fruition in some way.
 
Oh sorry Tom, one of my favourite old pet hate phrases from old studies.
Pre research...it really doesn't exist.
There is just research...however you want to phrase it.
Early research, initial low cost research, but no pre research...as it is all research.
What is it you are doing at the time of doing it...research, nothing pre at all.
Back on topic...
I think this one will happen, but with the timescale and planning, probably not in this riders "riding" lifetime.
 
All it takes is Doreen at number 54 to refuse to sell her house to scupper it all.

I'd imagine with the HS2 debacle many will be wary about selling houses for development.

There is more reason to be positive given Universal know what they're doing, but the UK is terrible at getting big projects done.
 
I get that it's a serious organisation and not a tin pot bunch of cowboys. So in that respect, it absolutely is far more realistic than LR ever was. Plus it's a massive piece of land in an ideally suited location.

But maybe that's the reason they bought it? They're in the market for a location in Europe, the property department do some research and find something too good to pass up on and a purchase happens. This really is quite low risk for Comcast. They now have a fixed asset that would be easy to flog on to developers at a profit and walk away from. Land banking is incredibly common in business.

There's no market certainty at all. Look at the changes in interest rates, energy costs, raw material costs, labour costs, and political situation in just the last 2 years. There will be a lot of forecasting required for the next few years which will be made harder by the fact there's an upcoming general election. I'm sure this is being worked through in the background but certainly not a done deal just waiting for a green light. This is very preliminary in every regard.
 
Apparently (according to Inside Universal forums - at least I think I read it there) some of the home owners between the two plots of land have been approached and offered well above market value to sell their properties. There really aren’t that many properties they’d need to purchase either, as far as I can make out on Google - maybe 15-20.

Money talks. I’d imagine Comcast won’t have too much trouble acquiring the extra properties.
 
Benzin said:
All it takes is Doreen at number 54 to refuse to sell her house to scupper it all.

I'd imagine with the HS2 debacle many will be wary about selling houses for development.

There is more reason to be positive given Universal know what they're doing, but the UK is terrible at getting big projects done.
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Actually the private sector is pretty good at getting large scale projects done it's just when the government is involved with one it's either a collosal balls up or is way over budget.

I'm hoping for as little government involvement as possible.
 
rob666 said:
I think, with large scale national projects, compulsory purchase can be used as a last resort with residential refusers.
Correct me if I'm wrong, you know I love it when you do...
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They can, but I can't think of a case where a government has done it on behalf of a private company for a private project.

Edit: There's a first time for everything though, especially with Gove's Department of Levelling Up.
 
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GooseOnTheLoose said:
They can, but I can't think of a case where a government has done it on behalf of a private company for a private project.

Edit: There's a first time for everything though, especially with Gove's Department of Levelling Up.
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I think it might have been either the Manchester Arndale or Trafford Centre, but it needed a central government rubber stamp.
Edit...Been googling...was indeed Manchester Arndale.
People advised to settle at a very good price, those that didn't got less, the "previous" value.
 
Good to see continued engagement, again I look forward to something more public whenever that may be though!

Now I know we have a lot of contributors and readers to this topic, so I'll jump in very briefly to prevent them getting bombarded. Do not send letters or emails to this MP regarding Universal, unless of course you live in the Bedford constituency. MPs are there to represent people from the area they're in, and by convention are not permitted to deal with those outside of their constituency boundary. Indeed the only response you'll receive will be to direct your comments to your own local MP and your comments discarded.

There's plenty of public places currently (like the Universal GB group etc) where you can shout loudly about the benefits of an RMC or a Velocicoaster clone ;) for the time being. If the project progresses to planning stages, there's going to be plenty of opportunity to offer your words of support. But please, don't go bogging down his inbox when caseworkers no doubt have a lot of valid queries to be dealing with.
 
Riddle me this:

At the existing Universal parks they have Marvel rides.

At Disneyland Paris they have Marvel rides.

On the Disney channel in the UK they have Marvel.

At a UK Universal park... ???
 
Bowser said:
Riddle me this:

At the existing Universal parks they have Marvel rides.

At Disneyland Paris they have Marvel rides.

On the Disney channel in the UK they have Marvel.

At a UK Universal park... ???
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The Marvel area at IOA predates Disney buying the franchise.

The chances of Universal securing a licence for new Marvel themed attractions in a UK park is essentially zero.
 
AT86 said:
The Marvel area at IOA predates Disney buying the franchise.

The chances of Universal securing a licence for new Marvel themed attractions in a UK park is essentially zero.
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Further to this, Universal currently only has the USA themepark rights east of the Missisippi, so they can't even use Marvel at their Hollywood park. Islands of Adventure is the only Universal park to have Marvel characters, I think even Japan has closed Spider-Man.
 
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