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[202X] Project Horizon (SW9?): Planning Approved

Many years ago now, I worked for the planning inspectorate but more on the admin side of it. It’s a very long, and drawn out process is planning at times, specifically where sensitive issues are present. The information will have been compiled over a period of time and submitted weeks ago.

That said, Towers will also have been aware of Mr Walliams antics long before they came out publicly and will have been quietly planning an exit strategy for some time now, so it’s likely we are already some way down the path of that. I suspect that also may be pushing things along a bit faster than it would have previously.

With the infrastructure and buildings in that area needing some serious work my guess is horizon will also tie in a wider revamp and retheme for that entire area which is causing the delays to horizon overall.
 
I think it’s all good to want them to refurb TWODW but it’s Merlin. You get project horizon, it gives them an excuse to close the area and barrier it off.

Trade offs, but I don’t think project horizon has been planned to include the area and is standalone so why expect more
 
The Lynch Effect said:
That said, Towers will also have been aware of Mr Walliams antics long before they came out publicly and will have been quietly planning an exit strategy for some time now
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Do you have any evidence for this, or are you merely speculating and potentially encroaching into libelous territory?

@Squiggs and co just want a quiet Christmas. Let's not publish anything which could get them and us individually into a spot of legal bother.
 
No evidence, more piecing things together. For example the BBC are airing the last of his appearances now, when filming takes place months in advance so it would seem they quietly dropped him some time ago also.

It’s not exactly a secret either as there have been whispers for a few years now. Katherine Ryan, has been talking about someone for a number of years without actually naming them, however she refuses to work with Walliams and hasn’t for some time which says a lot without her having to say anything direct.

There is more but that’s not for this thread, the upshot is I think everyone was hoping to quietly drop him, and hope it went away, problem is it didn’t.

I’m not saying he is guilty, however looking at the whole picture the laws of probability suggest he’s not entirely innocent either. My thoughts are what’s been happening is probably somewhere between the middle of what he is saying and what our lovely sensationalist press are reporting.

But back on topic, I think this will be pushing towers along a bit with Horizon and that area as a whole.
 
The sad part is I can see this being a standalone attraction and IP (Jumanji/Uncharted etc) rather than tying in to a cohesive area theme/plan as needed.

Which will be a criminal waste of capital expenditure and a stark misunderstanding of how to run a theme park, in my opinion.
 
The Lynch Effect said:
For example the BBC are airing the last of his appearances now, when filming takes place months in advance so it would seem they quietly dropped him some time ago also.
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The BBC are airing repeats of adaptations of his work as they hadn't commissioned anything new for this year, nor do they have any plans to in the future. The BBC's budget for original adaptations has also vastly shrunk in recent years, leading to difficult commissioning decisions. Those are the facts.
The Lynch Effect said:
It’s not exactly a secret either as there have been whispers for a few years now. Katherine Ryan, has been talking about someone for a number of years without actually naming them, however she refuses to work with Walliams and hasn’t for some time which says a lot without her having to say anything direct.
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You are once again speculating and extrapolating. We do not have a protection of "freedom of speech" in this country, and libel and defamation laws are extremely all encompassing and wide reaching. Correlation does not imply causation.

Just because a comedian makes a vague allusion on a podcast does not constitute legal evidence. Repeating "whispers" as a basis for a "law of probability" regarding someone's guilt is precisely how forums get into legal hot water.
The Lynch Effect said:
But back on topic, I think this will be pushing towers along a bit with Horizon and that area as a whole.
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I fail to see the logic here. Project Horizon is a net new capital investment (presumably a coaster in a shed). The World of David Walliams is an existing IP overlay on legacy hardware.

Merlin does not reactively spend millions retheming an entire land based on tabloid headlines unless the brand becomes operationally untenable (e.g. toxic to the point where families stop visiting). They are far more likely to simply let the current contract run its course to avoid early termination fees, sweat the asset until the paint peels, and then retheme it when they were planning to anyway.

If anything, uncertainty around the longevity of the Walliams IP makes them less likely to accelerate spending on a cohesive area strategy, not more.
 
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Fair enough, I’m sure we will all find out eventually either way as this isn’t going to go away quickly for him.

Either way his name is tarnished and not an IP anyone is going to want to be associated with regardless of whether he has or hasn’t. The damage has already been done and is pretty much irreversible for him.
 
I wonder if this was a pre planned action but has been rushed due to the news as It was (according to the councils website) received today.

I wouldn't be too surprised if AT had plans to start Horizon at a time such that when the licencing rights ended for TWODW they would have a new ride (or could close the land, and open the season after). but have since rushed their plans to retheme the area due to the news.
 
So despite the coincidences of the last few days, we now know that Merlin/AT were plodding along with Project Horizon in the background regardless.

What we don’t know, is what the original theming/IP was planned to be, and would it have included Walliams World as part of a wider refurb anyway, and if those plans are now being hastily changed.

However what common sense and logic absolutely dictates, is that PH is not a response to recent news regarding David Walliams. I think Merlin are pretty incompetent, but even they aren’t going to be holding an emergency board meeting deciding ‘oh cr*p, Gangsta Granny is now unfashionable so let’s do that multi million pound rollercoaster after all’
 
Could the main reason Project Horizon has been delayed so long is due to the planning which although went through had certain underlying criteria preventing it from being started. And Toxicator was brought in to fill the orignal gap of Project Horizon
 
jon81uk said:
No it is just a conincidence.

There is no reasonable chance that surveys and other planning processes were accelerated in the last few days.
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I was trying to suggest that they had the surveys done but not submitted as either the project may have been canned, or perhaps they were planning on submitting it along with other applications (such as a deadline extension) not that they had quickly called up the surveyor and got them to expedite it (as in that case they would probably save relatively little amount of time in relation to the construction time)
 
Ash said:
The sad part is I can see this being a standalone attraction and IP (Jumanji/Uncharted etc) rather than tying in to a cohesive area theme/plan as needed.
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The planning has always indicated Horizon to be a standalone attraction.

There was never any indication it included a wider area. It had its own entrance and plaza.

Perhaps the Walliams news has pushed the project into life as they have expanded its original form, or perhaps it was submitted weeks ago and the timing coincided.

We would need to see further plans if they were to widen the area for Horizon.
 
AltonLover123 said:
The planning has always indicated Horizon to be a standalone attraction.

There was never any indication it included a wider area. It had its own entrance and plaza.

Perhaps the Walliams news has pushed the project into life as they have expanded its original form, or perhaps it was submitted weeks ago and the timing coincided.

We would need to see further plans if they were to widen the area for Horizon.
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We’m don’t know they’ve expanded its original form ….
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
The BBC are airing repeats of adaptations of his work as they hadn't commissioned anything new for this year, nor do they have any plans to in the future. The BBC's budget for original adaptations has also vastly shrunk in recent years, leading to difficult commissioning decisions. Those are the facts.
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He's on the Xmas Woukd I Lie To You (filmed around May I believe) and when the publisher story broke they issued a statement...

Walliams is also scheduled to appear on comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? on Boxing Day.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: "While we're not making any changes to the festive schedules, we have no future projects directly involving David Walliams."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cev8p7d0gmgo

So they've not recorded anything more with him for a looong time.

It's still hard to tell which has more life in it, DW career or Project Horizon?
 
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