Thought it would be handy to look back at some snippets and summarise....
The previous mayor of Bedford says Universal first approached the Council in 2022 (nearly two years ago). Page Thompson, of Universal, let slip that he has been working on this for over two years and spending a lot of time here. So Universal have already invested considerable time, money and effort in this proposal. Also, this news only came out very recently, which shows how good Universal have been at keeping things close to their chest and controlling information.
In the last UK Budget, it was announced that the EWR project to Bedford was being brought forward for earlier completion
A recent planning application for warehousing near J13 of the M1 mentions improvements to the J13 layout.
Wixams railway station development seems to have moved forward after a period of stagnation.
There have been recent signs of the Kempston Hardwick bridge project progressing, despite no other apparent planned work on any other road crossings on that line.
At least two local hotels are already expanding on the assumption this is going to happen.
Luton Airport are in the process of planning expansion with a new terminal and have already build an automated link to the mainline railway.
In the FT article, Page Thompson states that is is almost impossible to find a large area of land suitable to build a theme park in the UK
"
Thompson did not comment on where else in Europe the company had looked but said the Bedford site was the only one that would work for Universal in the UK, owing to its size, flatness and location in the country. “It's not easy to find hundreds of acres of land in England to build a resort,” he said."
All in all there are lots of positive signs. The downside is the underlying statements, made in various interviews and articles, including the FT, that this may well now be in the Governments hands, as they will need to ensure certain infrastructure projects are delivered. This is most likely to be the A421 spur road, the final delivery of Wixams railway station, further potential improvement to J13 of the M1, progression of EWR and the A1/A421 improvements. Many of these are in progress already, apart from the A421 spur but there is the distinct feeling that if the Government do not get on board with some investment and financial incentive then this might not happen.
The current mayor of Bedford put the odds at probably over 60/40 that it will go ahead, which is far from certain, but definitely in the right direction, and he would have been managing expectations.
So fingers crossed, things are looking positive, and clearly some infrastructure is already in progress, but it looks as if this will be in the hands of the next Government from July. Personally, I think they would be daft not to support something that will bring in a lot of tourism and investment. When Taylor Swift visits, most of the money raised goes back with her to the States and it generates little overall additional economic benefit to the UK, apart from a local blip for hotels and restaurants. With this project there will be big economic benefits to the UK and money will be coming into the country long term from tourists.
Just a few idle thoughts while I was idling away my morning. All opinions are my own
