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[🌎 Universal GB] General Discussion

Bowser said:
Whilst i agree, Universal Beijing is the closest in terms of climate of any their parks and there's no sign of an indoor water park there.

An indoor water park is uncharted territory for Universal and the fact they only have one existing water park in the world, which in itself was not built by Universal perhaps suggests it's not something they are particularly interested in pursuing.

Not to mention Center Parcs have a 365 indoor water park 10 minutes away and would presumably have objections for whatever they're worth.
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Universals existing water park “Volcano Bay” was built from ground up by Universal. Their previous water park Wet n Wild they didn’t build and purchased that from its previous owners before closing it and opening Volcano bay on a different site. (The old wet and wild site is now home to the endless summer resorts).
 
Maelstrom said:
Universals existing water park “Volcano Bay” was built from ground up by Universal. Their previous water park Wet n Wild they didn’t build and purchased that from its previous owners before closing it and opening Volcano bay on a different site. (The old wet and wild site is now home to the endless summer resorts).
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Ah didn't realise that, i thought it was the same site and they modified it, thanks!
 
I remember seeing that Universal and Anglian Water already had an agreement in the planning docs. So this is Anglian Water being greedy.
 
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Benzin said:
Water Company basically going cap in hand to get some boosted finance for required expansion like they can't afford it.

But the shareholders! Etc.
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xtpower said:
I remember seeing that Universal and Anglian Water already had an agreement in the planning docs. So this is Anglian Water being greedy.
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If anyone were to actually read the article, they would find no trace of Anglian Water (or any other water company) complaining about having to upgrade the facilities, or even asking for money.

The only complaints within the article are from local residents who are concerned that Anglian Water, even with their planned upgrades, will be unable to keep up with safe water treatment.

Anglian Water’s sole contribution to the piece is a rather dry statement confirming that they are working with the developer to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place. A standard utility provider response.

As noted in the planning documents, Universal has already submitted a comprehensive Foul Water & Utilities Strategy. They are well aware that they cannot flush 12 million visitors' worth of effluent into the Great Ouse without building the necessary plumbing, and they are fully expecting to foot the bill for the connection... For once.

Perhaps let’s save the pitchforks for when the water companies actually dump sewage in the river, rather than when they are just quietly doing their job planning for a new customer.
 
What about water coming in?

At least one source (wish I could remember who) has raised concerns that with recent water shortages, and hotter weather, the local supply network is simply not up to supplying an extra whole town in the area.

Water supply is already at crisis levels in many areas in the summer peak theme park months...this is generating a large new peak demand.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
If anyone were to actually read the article, they would find no trace of Anglian Water (or any other water company) complaining about having to upgrade the facilities, or even asking for money.

The only complaints within the article are from local residents who are concerned that Anglian Water, even with their planned upgrades, will be unable to keep up with safe water treatment.

Anglian Water’s sole contribution to the piece is a rather dry statement confirming that they are working with the developer to ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place. A standard utility provider response.
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I think Geoff Darch's (Anglian Water's head of strategic asset planning) comments are at least strongly worded, even if not actually complaints. They definitly don't read as a sunshine and lollipops situaltion, they are not happy they need to work quickly to upgrade the sewage (Water Recycling Centre (WRC)) site for the housing and the theme park. But I think Anglian Waters statements are mainly to put pressure on the local planning authority to speed through the applications in weeks not years, the strong words are directed at the planners, not Universal.
Standing inside Bedford WRC, Geoff Darch, Anglian Water's head of strategic asset planning, says the site is "at its limit".

The theme park will be "like an additional small town being added in to this area – so it's something we've got to take really seriously", he says.
....
Darch is optimistic the works will be ready for Universal to open but says sewage plans – once firmed up – will need to be "sped through the regulatory process".

"This is a very fast timescale. It's much quicker than the normal development timescale," he says.

To accommodate Universal and other planned growth, applications that might previously have taken a "couple of years" to deliberate now need considering "in a matter of weeks and months".

Universal, he continues, will "pay their fair share of development costs" at the sewage works.
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jon81uk said:
I think Geoff Darch's (Anglian Water's head of strategic asset planning) comments are at least strongly worded, even if not actually complaints. They definitly don't read as a sunshine and lollipops situaltion, they are not happy they need to work quickly to upgrade the sewage (Water Recycling Centre (WRC)) site for the housing and the theme park. But I think Anglian Waters statements are mainly to put pressure on the local planning authority to speed through the applications in weeks not years, the strong words are directed at the planners, not Universal.
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I think characterising factual engineering assessments as strongly worded is perhaps projecting a little too much emotion onto a sanitation engineer.

When Geoff Darch says the site is "at its limit", he isn't complaining, nor is he being difficult. He is stating a physical reality. You cannot negotiate with hydraulic capacity. The bucket is full. If you want to put more in the bucket, you need a bigger bucket, and you need it yesterday.

The pressure on the "regulatory process" highlights the exact tension created by the government's use of the Special Development Order.

Because the SDO has legally expedited the planning permission for the park itself (bypassing the years of local council deliberations), the supporting infrastructure providers, like Anglian Water, are suddenly having to compress a decade's worth of strategic planning into a window of weeks and months.

The regulators he is referring to here likely aren't just the local planners, but the Environment Agency and Ofwat. These bodies typically move at a glacial pace. He is effectively firing a warning shot across the bow of the Civil Service. You have approved the theme park at lightspeed, but if you don't approve the new sewage pipes at the same speed, we are going to have a very messy situation in the River Great Ouse.

It reinforces the point that while the government can legislate a theme park into existence with a pen stroke, they cannot legislate the laws of physics or fluid dynamics.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I think characterising factual engineering assessments as strongly worded is perhaps projecting a little too much emotion onto a sanitation engineer.

When Geoff Darch says the site is "at its limit", he isn't complaining, nor is he being difficult. He is stating a physical reality. You cannot negotiate with hydraulic capacity. The bucket is full. If you want to put more in the bucket, you need a bigger bucket, and you need it yesterday.

The pressure on the "regulatory process" highlights the exact tension created by the government's use of the Special Development Order.

Because the SDO has legally expedited the planning permission for the park itself (bypassing the years of local council deliberations), the supporting infrastructure providers, like Anglian Water, are suddenly having to compress a decade's worth of strategic planning into a window of weeks and months.

The regulators he is referring to here likely aren't just the local planners, but the Environment Agency and Ofwat. These bodies typically move at a glacial pace. He is effectively firing a warning shot across the bow of the Civil Service. You have approved the theme park at lightspeed, but if you don't approve the new sewage pipes at the same speed, we are going to have a very messy situation in the River Great Ouse.

It reinforces the point that while the government can legislate a theme park into existence with a pen stroke, they cannot legislate the laws of physics or fluid dynamics.
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Exactly, it is not just "a rather dry statement" it is a deliberate statement to reinforce the point that he wants those bodies to support them to move quickly to approve things quickly. I think the entire point of Anglian Water speaking to the media is to put pressure on local planners, the Environment Agency and Ofwat.
 
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rob666 said:
What about water coming in?

At least one source (wish I could remember who) has raised concerns that with recent water shortages, and hotter weather, the local supply network is simply not up to supplying an extra whole town in the area.

Water supply is already at crisis levels in many areas in the summer peak theme park months...this is generating a large new peak demand.
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They’ve got a new reservoir being planned in Cambridgeshire somewhere haven’t they, not sure if that would serve this area. But 30 are planned across the country finally, water companies haven’t been the best with putting proposals forward but when they have you’ve had the usual complaints from locals so the plans never go anywhere.
 
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