Construction of the proposed Paramount resort could get under way in the autumn of 2016 with an opening in the summer of 2019, it has been revealed.
Developers behind the £2billion scheme to transform the derelict Swanscombe Peninsula have outlined a proposed timetable for the project as the first informal phase of the public consultation gets under way today.
London Resort Company Holdings has growing confidence in its plans after gaining special government status bypassing local planning rules last month.
Full details of the entertainment project are expected to be unveiled in October when the first formal stage of the public consultation gets under way.
A series of public meetings are being held this month for people to tell developers how they want to receive information as the scheme progresses.
These are taking place at:
Ebbsfleet Academy (in the sports hall), Southfleet Road, Swanscombe, DA10 0BZ today from 2pm to 8pm;
Eastgate (North Kent Community Church), 141 Springhead Parkway, Gravesend, DA11 8AD on Friday from 11am to 2pm
British Legion Greenhithe, London Road, Greenhithe, DA9 9EJ on Friday from 4.30pm to 8pm
Swanscombe Leisure Centre, Craylands Lane, Swanscombe, DA10 0LP on Saturday from noon to 5pm
Set to be named London Paramount Entertainment Resort, it is expected to create 27,000 jobs and will feature a water park, theme park, sporting facilities, an entertainment street, a staff training academy and about 5,000 hotel rooms.
Project leader Tony Sefton said: "We are committed to the consultation timetable.
"Come October, the next stage of exhibitions will be more detailed. Then the fun stuff starts to come out. The key message is 'it's coming'. It's happening now."
As well as being a tourist attraction, the resort also aims to create an Experience Valley.
It is hoped 200 new businesses could form a hub for the UK's creative industries there, in the style of Silicon Valley for digital companies in the United States.
This includes plans for more than 50 acres of commercial letting space and a 21,000sqm Creative Industry Hub.
It is expected there will be an annual reinvestment of £30m in the resort's core entertainment products, with a preference given to onsite and local suppliers.
About 100 people are working for London Resort Company Holdings on the project, mainly on a consultancy basis.
London Resort Company Holdings also believes the project will encourage between 200,000 and 300,000 customers onto water taxis up the River Thames.
They predict 15 million people will visit each year – including 15,000 to 17,000 staff daily – which has prompted big plans for transport infrastructure investment.
These include a monorail linking Ebbsfleet International with the resort.
Project leader Tony Sefton wants the site to encourage visitors onto public transport and aims for it to have the "lowest modal mix" of car parking spaces of any resort of its kind in the world.
The team also believes the site will act as a "catalyst" for a new 15,000 home garden city at Ebbsfleet.
This could include a Paramount University at the Ebbsfleet Academy, preparing people for jobs in the area.
KEH director Fenlon Dunphy said: "Not a lot comes along on this scale. The infrastructure work on this is massive and it needs something of our size to complete it.
"We see ourselves as the catalyst to regeneration of the area as a garden city and we view the project as a cornerstone to that working."
Mr Sefton added: "We will provide all the fun stuff for the area. We will have a lot of sport and arts. It should be a great place to live."
The road to launching the London Paramount Entertainment Resort
May 2014 - Gains status as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, bypassing local planning requirements
June 2014 - Begins first phase of public consultation, asking residents and interested parties how they would like to be told about the plans
Autumn to winter 2014 - First stage of formal public consultation
Spring to summer 2015 - Second stage of formal public consultation
Summer 2015 - Apply for planning permission direct to central government, known as a development consent order
Summer 2015 to Summer 2016 - Detailed design work and procurement of contracts
Autumn 2016 - Decision by Secretary of State
Autumn 2016 to spring 2019 - Construction
Summer 2019 - Grand opening
