To me, the chances of this project happening certainly seem better now than they did, say, 2-3 years ago. There was a time between about 2015/16 and 2018/19 where it just seemed as though nothing was really happening, loads of different IPs were backing out, the occasional delay was happening now and then, and Paramount even left in 2017. I still had a little bit of hope left, but I’ll admit the future didn’t look too promising for the project at that point.
But then all of a sudden, in about 2019, it seemed as though the momentum really came back with a vengeance. Paramount had signed back onto the project, ITV signed on, the team completely overhauled it with a new brand and completely new concepts, and they do seem to have been getting things done lately. The final round of public consultations, due for years since about 2015, finally happened in summer 2020, and the much touted DCO application, which was again hyped up for years but never seemed to come, has finally been filed and accepted. I don’t know about you, but to me, it seems a little strange that all of these promising things would suddenly happen in fairly quick succession after a multi-year lull in activity without something seemingly changing behind the scenes.
If you listen to the people behind the project, and read the environmental scoping reports and public consultations, it turns out that they have spent the last few years more productively than you’d expect; they’ve apparently done very in-depth environmental studies, and these have resulted in things like the scope of the project reducing quite a bit when compared to the original proposal.
Based on what’s been said, I can also conclude that the project has at least some degree of financial backing; PY Gerbeau referenced an “investor” in a quote recently, and the project has at least one confirmed investor in the form of KEH. I don’t know how far this investment will take them, but it’s certainly promising that there is at least some money lined up, in my opinion, and it could well be enough to take it to the finish line; you’d be surprised how rich some people are.
Now I’m not saying that I’m dead certain that the project will happen by any means. I’m trying to view things through a slightly more realistic set of eyes with this project after the backlash I received in the thread earlier this year; the park opening is still very much an if as opposed to a when, and I think anything can happen, especially with things like Brexit and the pandemic still functioning as very real hurdles to overcome. But I’m certainly feeling pretty hopeful that this project could end up defying your expectations and have something materialise.
Anything could happen between now and the end of the enquiry in 2022; I’m feeling cautiously optimistic that this story might eventually have a happy ending.
