Universal Great Britain

[yepthatguy]

In case it helps anyone not familiar with UK government structure, MPs are Members of Parliament in the House of Commons.

There’s 2 MPs involved here:

Mohammed Yasin - Bedford - Labour Party
Alistair Strathern - Mid Bedfordshire - Labour Party

Both have been voted in locally. Even though currently the Conversative Party is governing the country. UK Politics.

Tonight Mohammed has posted on Facebook that he had not long met with Universal representatives, and agreed with them that he make public tonight’s meeting and that further monthly meetings will be taking place.

He cannot disclose details of the meeting(s), but is happy to take feedback from constituents to bring up with Universal. Someone has already asked if there will be Potter. This is happening on Facebook naturally. Mo has provided an email address. I hope he knows he will be bombarded with questions. He has said he is pushing for this to happen.

Also Alistair has recently given a BBC Radio 3 Counties interview saying something similar but using words like “big vision”. There are links available in this thread.

The reason there are 2 involved is simply because the area Universal have purchased not only affects both MPs constituencies, but from what I make of it, the border between the 2 cuts right through the Universal land on, you guessed it… Manor Road, Kempston Hardwick.

 

[bedfordmassive]

The politics is interesting in both constituencies.

Bedford has swapped between Labour and conservatives recently. It can go either way (except conservatives are very unpopular at the moment).

Mid beds is traditionally conservative until Nadine Dorries graduated from mostly toxic to completely toxic. It’s likely to go conservative again, though, as above, conservatives are so unpopular it might stay Labour next time.

Upshot is that both seats are generally in play so the local MPs will go for locally popular policies, and Universal GB is popular.

Mayor is similar story - Lib Dems lost to a conservative farmer a year or so back, and likely to win again in future. Again, local populism will rule.

I can’t imagine any political candidate putting up any resistance. Nobody is secure enough to object in order to please the small minority against it (and I haven’t actually come across any yet).

 

[Jon84]

Long time since I’ve last been on the site!!

Very exciting opportunity, I can’t see the MPs having much say in whether this goes ahead or not. This project will require upgrades to local travel infrastructure and will have been agreed at a national government level rather than local councils and MPs. There will be local consultancy of course, but this will be more around cosmetic issues.

The correct wheels will have already been greased, brown envelopes of cash exchanged and backs patted for a land purchase to be made. If Universal suddenly couldn’t get permission, who on earth would they sell the land to?!

 

[DanM]

Just out of interest can anyone local give any background info on what looks like an active farm directly north of the land? Hopefully it’s running won’t mean restrictions on noise or anything similar.

 

[yepthatguy]

Just out of interest can anyone local give any background info on what looks like an active farm directly north of the land? Hopefully it’s running won’t mean restrictions on noise or anything similar.

Where abouts on the map do you mean? I may be able to help find out.

I’ve just checked the traffic for Tuesday 16:45pm local time.



You can see why lots of locals are up for it, but knowing the routes in and out of Bedford, it’s not enough as if. That road off the A421 connects to the A6 to go north. It’s like that twice a day Monday - Friday.

Anyone interested just switch on traffic on google maps and you can see how it’s looking at various parts of the day and on weekends.

 

[DanM]

Where abouts on the map do you mean? I may be able to help find out.

Thanks

Was thinking about the red etched area on the photo attached.

 

[yepthatguy]

Thanks

Was thinking about the red etched area on the photo attached.

This is interesting for me, as Universal published the photos with the yellow area as land they have purchased.

However in any previous proposals like @Alicia detailed in the Parkstop video, the dark green area of land under the part you circled in red, was actually highlighted as the entrance / exit parcel of land to the developments.

But Universal either didn’t buy that specific parcel of land in the end, or they don’t want to say they have.

The section you’ve circled is a farming business called A J Hassall & Son, technically listed as livestock and agriculture. There’s not much info available on them I don’t think other than local business listings. In terms of noise and restrictions, I’m not sure.

I would say though, the house on that land is on Woburn Road, and the A421 itself is very close too. So it’s not in the middle of the countryside, Woburn Road is a busy one.

The A421 can be very loud, especially when it rains. It’s also as you know a very busy road, and creates this constant white noise when it’s raining or wet.

There is a recreational area next to it for the Berryfields housing estate in Wootton, so not long ago sound proof panelling was installed to help dampen the noise. I think this is also the case for Wixams on the A6.

Further up from the area you circled, there’s a business and some houses. If you zoom out you can see how the huge light industry warehouses are surrounded by trees and landscaping.

Maybe Universal would do this near the circled area?

Big things getting built in empty fields is not that uncommon in this area. There is a huge Amazon warehouse just south of Wootton. They built a dedicated road straight to it, increasing lorry / truck traffic over the Wootton bridge built when the A421 was opened.

I don’t think anyone cared, because the Berryfields housing estate is only about 10 years old, and it just meant they could order things pre 10pm and be first on the rounds.

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

So the Epic Universe unveiling has got me thinking about a lot of things, but this is one of them
Do you guys think Universal Great Britain could potentially have a similar layout to Epic Universe? After Islands of Adventure opened, the two Parks that opened afterwards mimicked it's Wheel Layout and general idea, just replacing Port of Entry with Hollywood, and the Literary Lands of IOA with Worlds themed to current hotness, box office smash Movie Franchises. With Universal bringing out their brand new Park that changes the game, what are the possibilities that some of the Parks opened from this point onwards copy it?

 

[Alicia]

So the Epic Universe unveiling has got me thinking about a lot of things, but this is one of them
Do you guys think Universal Great Britain could potentially have a similar layout to Epic Universe? After Islands of Adventure opened, the two Parks that opened afterwards mimicked it's Wheel Layout and general idea, just replacing Port of Entry with Hollywood, and the Literary Lands of IOA with Worlds themed to current hotness, box office smash Movie Franchises. With Universal bringing out their brand new Park that changes the game, what are the possibilities that some of the Parks opened from this point onwards copy it?

I'm envisioning a play on the portals from Epic but with more covered and indoor lands like Beijing. Like if you mixed Epic and Beijing, to create a sort of hybrid Adventure/Studios park concept.

 

[yepthatguy]

I'm envisioning a play on the portals from Epic but with more covered and indoor lands like Beijing. Like if you mixed Epic and Beijing, to create a sort of hybrid Adventure/Studios park concept.

Did they send you a Cronos with a Medallion in?

If not, they should!!!

 

[Alicia]

Did they send you a Cronos with a Medallion in?

If not, they should!!!

They did not. (And I don’t blame them at all.)

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Did they send you a Cronos with a Medallion in?

If not, they should!!!

Nah, they probably have a photo of Alicia with "DO NOT ADMIT" at each security entrance

 

[yepthatguy]

Short article from the Bedford Independent site.

Representatives from Universal Studios met with Bedford and Kempston MP, Mohammad Yasin, yesterday (Monday) to discuss their plans for their first UK theme park in Bedford Borough.

The meeting took place at the Houses of Parliament and signals the start of monthly meetings to ensure that local residents’ concerns are raised, questions are answered and their voices are heard as the project progresses.

Universal has already written to residents living near the site it has bought in Bedford to say that it would work closely with local communities if the plan for a theme park goes ahead.

Following the meeting, Mr Yasin said: “I have been in discussions with Universal about the plans for Bedford for a while, but I am pleased that this has progressed to monthly scheduled meetings where I can follow developments more closely and have the opportunity to raise any questions and concerns of my constituents.

“The discussions will continue to be confidential, due to commercial sensitivity surrounding a project of national significance but I will advocate for as transparent approach as possible.

“I want the meetings to be a vehicle for Bedford and Kempston residents to have a voice in the proposals as they develop. I urge my constituents to share their thoughts on my social media pages or drop me an email at office@mohammadyasin.org.”

Bedford MP hosts first of ongoing monthly meetings with Universal theme park executives - Bedford Independent

Representatives from Universal Studios met with Bedford and Kempston MP, Mohammad Yasin, yesterday (Monday) to discuss their...

www.bedfordindependent.co.uk

 

[Freak]

I know, I know….what I’m about to say is never going to happen….its a dead dream, but I thought about something that I think would be a great alternative to Super Nintendo World that would appeal to British culture….or gamers:

In an alternate universe where Nintendo was smart enough to buy Rareware and wasn’t run to the ground by Microsoft, I think it would be fantastic to have a Rareware Land. Like how Nintendo world focuses on the Mario verse, Rare could focus more on the Banjoo Kazooie verse.

The land would be set in the land where Banjoo Kazooie the first part of the game is set at. The E-ticket would be Diddy Kong Racing. Basically the same ride as Mario Kart but with…well, Diddy Kong Racing. You would enter by going up the mountain in the center of the land, going up the stairs, and when you reach the top, you would cross the bridge into Gratilda’s lair which would be the queue line for the ride. It would be full of Easter eggs from other Rare games.

And if they REALLY wanted to do something cool, they would recreate the rooster and Plucker from Conker’s Bad Fur Day and make it an actual pub, complete with Banjoo’s head perched on the wall.

I know blue sky concepts on discussion threads are generally frowned upon and I know this will never happen, but I had to get myself excited over something that would never happen. It’s a shame that we live in the timeline where Nintendo didn’t buy Rare. *Sigh* What could’ve been.

 

[yepthatguy]

Another BBC article from today.

Universal Studios UK: Is a theme park coming to Stewartby?

What might a major new theme park mean for a Bedfordshire village and its 1,200 inhabitants?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Altonsky]

But if a useless graph when they’re comparing land size to Alton Towers when most land at Alton Towers is protected and can’t be built on due tit historic nature of the land.

 

[yepthatguy]

But if a useless graph when they’re comparing land size to Alton Towers when most land at Alton Towers is protected and can’t be built on due tit historic nature of the land.

Bit of a weird article I thought. Maybe just pushing on the infrastructure narrative. They probably tried to find people who are pushing back, and found none.

No new information other than a few quotes from a theme park history expert as far as I can see, but thought I’d link it anyway.

 

[Alicia]

Bit of a weird article I thought. Maybe just pushing on the infrastructure narrative. They probably tried to find people who are pushing back, and found none.

No new information other than a few quotes from a theme park history expert as far as I can see, but thought I’d link it anyway.

I guess it’s good to see it continue to get news cycle coverage, even if it’s just rewording the same info over and over.

 

[GAcoaster]

It's also good to see that it has been very positive reactions on most parts. I'm sure there will be a few NIMBYs and complainers, but overall it seems like the majority is good with the idea.

 

[bedfordmassive]

It's also good to see that it has been very positive reactions on most parts. I'm sure there will be a few NIMBYs and complainers, but overall it seems like the majority is good with the idea.

40+ days on from news breaking, I’ve met one person concerned about property prices in Bedford suffering if universal move In (which seems likely to be the opposite of what will actually happen).

That’s it in terms of negative local feedback I’ve heard.