Yes, I think so, the land Universal own now falls entirely in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency. Candidates in the election are:
| Richard Brunning | |
| Reform UK | David Holland |
| Independent | Gareth Mackey |
| Labour | Maahwish Mirza |
| Liberal Democrats | Stuart Roberts |
| Green | Cade Sibley |
| Conservative | Blake Stephenson |
www.thecomet.net
No seems to be the answer. The annual report and comments during the Shareholders' meeting didn't reference a new theme park in the UK, nor much else looking forward. I guess not a surprise as the annual report is about looking backwards to company performance in 2023, plus a series of regulatory actions such as election of Board members, approval of auditors, etc.
what the heck are you talking about
Chances are they are not going to announce UGB this year. They might announce it next year to capitalize on EUs momentum. However since Tomfoolery said "It will be a good seven years from now" implies UGB won't be opening until 2030-2031. Considering how EU was announced in 2019 with a 2023 opening in mind until the pandemic, UGB might not be fully announced/revealed until 2027-2028.
They might not have a big public announcement for some time, but if they are to get planning approval in order to start major construction by the end of next year (which I think they set out in their info published back in April) there will have to be some form of public and statutory consultation on their proposals, even if that is limited to their environmental impact statement, before they commence major works. Realistically I think this will have to have concluded no later than the first half of next year to enable major construction resources to be deployed later in the year, so I think that's the latest point by which we will "know for certain" it will go ahead, even if there hasn't been a big public reveal.
If I was John McReynolds, who seems like a savvy political operator, I'd not move forward during a general election campaign with a major project which clearly needs political support, and has been lauded by individual politicians of different parties as being great for 'their patch'. Too much potential for getting caught up in party political knockabout. I'm sure that McReynolds and Page Thompson will want to see which way the new government wants to proceed with planning permission issues before making further progress, and I can't see that happening before the autumn as new Ministers will want to get settled in to their new responsibilities and there's hardly any time for that before the summer recess.
Just on that point, aren't there two issues: Universal take an internal decision to proceed to a formal planning application; and the government (local or national) grant approval to that application. Both points are necessary before we can say it is confirmed.
