| Location |  |
| Status | Under construction |
| Opened | 2024 |
| Owner | London Resort Company Holdings |
| Operator | London Resort Company Holdings |
| Operating season | Year-round |
| Previous names | Paramount Kent, Paramount Pictures Theme Park |
| Area | 872 acres (353 ha) |
| Website | http://londonresort.info/ |
The London Resort is a proposed theme park in Swanscombe, Kent, England, UK. The project was announced on 8 October 2012 and it is estimated to open by 2024 with construction beginning in 2021.
Originally known as the London Paramount Entertainment Resort, the project originally involved Paramount Pictures. In June 2017, it was announced that Paramount had pulled out of the project and the planned complex was renamed as London Resort. However, in June 2019, London Resort gained the necessary licences to still have rides based on Paramount Pictures' films.
Plan
At the 2012 launch of the project it was announced that the complex would feature Europe's largest indoor water park, theatres, live music venues, attractions, cinemas, restaurants, event space and hotels. Allied to the project would be a training academy for the entertainment and hospitality sectors, a new country park, a large science and education visitor complex and "the biggest performing arts centre in Europe". With an initial completion date announced for 2019, the park and related enterprises were expected to employ 27,000 people. Plans have since been reviewed and revised, the London Resort announced their intention to open in 2024.
The park was initially planned in partnership with Paramount Pictures, and would have been known as the London Paramount Entertainment Resort, with the park's theme having an emphasis on Britain and Kent, as well as Paramount films and entertainment properties. The team at the Resort subsequently agreed with Paramount to separate and the project became known as the London Resort.
The plans for the park received considerable backing from the British government when it became the first commercial venture to be awarded Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project status allowing the developers to bypass local planning requirements.
In 2014, it was hoped that the park would spur the development of a new Garden City development at nearby Ebbsfleet.
Attractions
The themed lands planned for the park include:
- Starport
- The Jungle
- The Isles
- The Kingdom
- The Woods
- The Studio
- High Street
The BBC, ITV and Paramount Pictures have been attached to the proposal, with the intention of showcasing Hollywood and British culture. Aardman Animations and the British Film Institute were attached, but later pulled out of the project.
BBC Worldwide productions that are expected to feature in the theme park are Doctor Who, Sherlock and Top Gear. Rides and attractions will also be based on the ITV children's programmes Thunderbirds Are Go and Robozuna. Other rides and attractions that are expected to based on Paramount blockbusters are Mission: Impossible, The Italian Job and A Quiet Place.
Development
The site straddles the border of the Dartford and Gravesham boroughs and both authorities have pledged their support. In July 2014 the first community consultation was held with a short series of exhibitions in the area around the peninsula.
The timetable for delivery, including the planning application process and construction timetable, were originally geared towards completion and opening in 2019. A planning application to Dartford Borough Council was expected to be made in 2015. The project leader is Tony Sefton of London Resort Company Holdings.
In April 2013 newspaper reports[19] claimed development may be delayed by the discovery of a rare species of spider. Sefton pledged to remove the colony of distinguished jumping spiders (Attulus distinguendus) to another suitable site.
The following month, the Kent Messenger reported that plans for the theme park could be endangered if a new Lower Thames Crossing was sited over the Swanscombe Peninsula and quoted Sefton as saying "It could really scupper plans. We are in the final throes of negotiating a very large investment and this makes it very difficult." However, the crossing proposal was rejected in December of that year.
Reactions
The project had received both positive and negative responses within Kent.[22] A commentary in the London Evening Standard in October 2012 called into question the commitment of some of the development partners, namely landowner Lafarge Tarmac, builder Brookfield Construction and property company Development Securities.[23] In December 2012 the project secured the services of Chris Townsend,[24] as its commercial director. Townsend performed the same role for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on behalf of the London 2012 Summer Olympics and is charged with attracting investors for debt and equity funding.