Hi, new member here, but been following the developments since the news broke in December time, and whilst it's a discussion thread on another forum I visit, was keen to find somewhere a bit more active on the topic ... and digger-spotting and concrete barriers are exactly the level of excitement I needed this morning
Although I currently live in another continent, I've reasonably local to the area, and know the area well (I used to get the train home after a night shift at the nearby Amazon distribution centre, which took you through the middle of what was then still an operational brickworks site!)
On local sentiment...
I still have a lot of family in and near the area, and general sentiment is very positive. The vast majority of those I've spoken to, and general local discourse I see/read, is perhaps a little 'star struck' maybe, but certainly in favour. The biggest 'concern' is local infrastructure. Whether that's a valid concern or not I guess is somewhat irrelevant, as it's a perceived concern. But it's clear this site was chosen largely
because of its good local infrastructure, and the road and rail changes proposed are sensible and likely to alleviate most people's concerns.
On attendance/operations...
I skimmed through most of the previous discussion points since December (some fun threads there!). And I know there was a lot of discussion about possible attendance levels, especially vs other UK parls.
One point I don't recall being raised was the impact of the operating season itself. I don't imagine anything has been formally stated, but would it be right to presume they'd want to operate the resort all year round (which I believe is the case for other Universal parks)? This would be the only park I know of in the UK where that would be the case, offering a boost in attendance opportunity (ok, not going to suddenly double it of course ... but it's also hard to predict the level of demand that time of year).
On what could go wrong / derail...
I think it's fair to say the UK doesn't have the speediest track record of delivering large-scale infrastructure projects without it taking many years to get things going.
* HS2 ... being built but huge public backlash from those along the route
* Hinkley Point C ... being built but at eyewatering cost, and years behind (35bn GBP at 2015 prices!)
* Heathrow 3rd Runway ... all but cancelled I believe
But this is fairly different... I think those other projects are sat more in the camp of 'we collectively 'need', rather than 'want' them, but some people will suffer because of it'. A Univeral park has a far, far smaller 'adverse' impact footprint ... and crucially is something people will actively
want to be fairly near to and want to visit (as opposed to a 'necessary' piece of infrastructure).
So I don't think the public needs much convincing this is the right thing to push through. And reading through the consultation documents made available so far ... they look like good plans, and they generally seem intent on being a good neighbour & 'citizen'.
If I had to guess one area to watch out for though, it would be around government subsidies/tax breaks. I think we're all expecting it, but if it gets to the point where what is being offered as a sweetheart deal is perceived as too much/imbalanced etc, that is what I think
could sway public opinion