Universal Great Britain

[rob@rar]

I think there is a risk that we exist in a bubble where something like Universal GB is incredibly exciting for us, and the people of Bedford, but the average voter is 1) not going to know about this and 2) even if they do know about this, they're not going to be basing their electoral decisions on this. This may exercise voters in the local area, but do you really think Jack from Bradford is going to vote on this issue over, say, the NHS waiting lists or a lack of teachers in schools?

To answer your second point, I fail to see how a planning application of this scale can be 1) developed be Uni in consultation with statutory partners 2) delivered to relevant Gov departments 3) progressed through statutory public consultations and 4) approved....all before the probable election in Autumn.

Can I remind people that the UK Gov has currently spent £300 million on a planning application...for a bridge. If you were to read all 360,000 pages of its various application documents it would take you over a year of constant reading 24/7 (nope I'm not joking). We just aren't quick at planning in this country and there is no reason to believe this would be different - although I'd love to be wrong.

I agree with all of this, except for one point. I agree that there’s not a huge amount of political capital for the government of the day to earn by approving Universal’s plans. First, this seems to have cross-party support, with the local Labour MP and the party more widely giving an equally warm welcome to the plans. In fact, the first contact Universl had with the local authority was with the previous Labour mayor of Bedford. Second, I can’t see this as being a vote-changer, especially in time for the forthcoming general election. For every person near Bedford who is very happy to see this inward investment, there might be five people in other parts of the country who are angry that the government’s Department for Levelling-Up are once again ignoring their locality.

The one point I disagree on is that I think there is evidence that the planning process for this is different from other large scale developments. As far as I can tell the decision to consider a Special Development Order for Universl’s plans is without precedent. They seem to be bypassing the procedure for a standard planning application to the local authority. They seem to be bypassing the established procedures for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. How many other commercial projects of this scale has government said they will consider passing new legislation to get approved? I couldn’t find any examples. We know from Bedford’s mayor that within a few days of first being contacted by Universal the government had set up a task force to take forward the plans. That seems remarkably quick to me, more evidence that this is different.

 

[Doug88]

I agree with all of this, except for one point. I agree that there’s not a huge amount of political capital for the government of the day to earn by approving Universal’s plans. First, this seems to have cross-party support, with the local Labour MP and the party more widely giving an equally warm welcome to the plans. In fact, the first contact Universl had with the local authority was with the previous Labour mayor of Bedford. Second, I can’t see this as being a vote-changer, especially in time for the forthcoming general election. For every person near Bedford who is very happy to see this inward investment, there might be five people in other parts of the country who are angry that the government’s Department for Levelling-Up are once again ignoring their locality.

The one point I disagree on is that I think there is evidence that the planning process for this is different from other large scale developments. As far as I can tell the decision to consider a Special Development Order for Universl’s plans is without precedent. They seem to be bypassing the procedure for a standard planning application to the local authority. They seem to be bypassing the established procedures for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. How many other commercial projects of this scale has government said they will consider passing new legislation to get approved? I couldn’t find any examples. We know from Bedford’s mayor that within a few days of first being contacted by Universal the government had set up a task force to take forward the plans. That seems remarkably quick to me, more evidence that this is different.

Has a private company ever tried to invest £10 billion in the UK before?

 

[rob@rar]

Has a private company ever tried to invest £10 billion in the UK before?

I don’t know about the scale of individual projects, but the total foreign direct investment in the UK in the year before Covid turned the world upside down was around £35 billion.

Some figures from a recent government-led conference on Foreign Direct Investment.

 

[Alicia]

Maybe we'll even get a new Theme Park stop video with all this news . If so, guys start contributing so we can get attributed and become internet famous .

I’m waiting till the official decision is declared next month, then will recap news since my last update. It takes me too long to make a video, so by the time I’m done we may be just a few days away from new major news, so better to hold off just a few more weeks.

 

[Steeb]

I’m waiting till the official decision is declared next month, then will recap news since my last update. It takes me too long to make a video, so by the time I’m done we may be just a few days away from new major news, so better to hold off just a few more weeks.

I will increase my Patreon pledge if you can get that fake thumbnail I made in there.

 

[Altonsky]

Has a private company ever tried to invest £10 billion in the UK before?

I guess you could look at EDF and the nuclear power plants they’re building but I can’t really think of anything else.

Microsoft announced a billion or two quid project the other month. Then there’s things like giga battery factories or whatever they’re called.

I can’t think of anything leisure related that comes anywhere close to this though.

All the other big investments are ‘boring’ stuff that most people will never interact with.

 

[Ludus]

 

[xtpower]

The diggers have left the project.



I suppose all we have now is the wait til a decision is made.

 

[Alicia]

It’s all up to the board now I guess. The “stakeholders” hold all the stakes.

 

[xtpower]

With the digger news we have a new update from our good friend PPU.

 

[Doug88]

It’s all up to the board now I guess. The “stakeholders” hold all the stakes.

Being from Orlando what is your opinion on this new park? Do you want it to go ahead?

 

[Alicia]

Being from Orlando what is your opinion on this new park? Do you want it to go ahead?

Why wouldn’t I? I think it’s exciting to see Universal build a new park anywhere. Plus here, I have so many friends I know who will love it, and it seems like there’s so much excitement for it in the area. It’s exciting for me, even all these miles away!

 

[xtpower]

Why wouldn’t I? I think it’s exciting to see Universal build a new park anywhere. Plus here, I have so many friends I know who will love it, and it seems like there’s so much excitement for it in the area. It’s exciting for me, even all these miles away!

It does help that if you come to Europe you have a new Universal Park to go have fun in, too .

 

[Alicia]

It does help that if you come to Europe you have a new Universal Park to go have fun in, too .

And so many new friends to see too!

 

[xtpower]

Just had a thought about the 'no cloned attractions' aspect and it gave me the idea that it's not a one-way deal. All signs point to UGB being 100% Universal's and one of their crown jewels and thus maybe the no cloned rides aspect isn't just to avoid cannibalising Orlando's business but to give Americans coming the other way brand new experiences to enjoy.

By making it a wholly new thing (with only IP overlap) they not only make it an independent Park that can stand on it's own two feet but it acts as an attraction for those who wanna go give Europe a visit and aren't likely to be tempted by a USF/IOA/EU clone when they already have easy access to the originals.

 

[yepthatguy]

Something inside tells me if this goes ahead it’s going to literally be unique in every aspect.

The approach, the surroundings, the park design, everything.

They have already gone in on this on so many levels, and they haven’t even made a decision or officially started.

Going ahead in England is massive. My feeling is now, that this won’t be a lift and shift at all.*

*I have absolutely nothing to confirm any of this other than my Gibbs gut.

 

[xtpower]

Something inside tells me if this goes ahead it’s going to literally be unique in every aspect.

The approach, the surroundings, the park design, everything.

They have already gone in on this on so many levels, and they haven’t even made a decision or officially started.

Going ahead in England is massive. My feeling is now, that this won’t be a lift and shift at all.*

*I have absolutely nothing to confirm any of this other than my Gibbs gut.

My wish is for Universal to go after DisneySea as the best Park in the World. EU might contend but I want UGB to take that crown. Give us unprecedented theming, astonishing new rides and an immersiveness that beats all. Seeing the detail that Fantasy Springs has, just makes me want UGB to go one step beyond.

 

[Ludus]

My wish is for Universal to go after DisneySea as the best Park in the World. EU might contend but I want UGB to take that crown. Give us unprecedented theming, astonishing new rides and an immersiveness that beats all. Seeing the detail that Fantasy Springs has, just makes me want UGB to go one step beyond.

You don't ask for much, do you?

 

[xtpower]

You don't ask for much, do you?

Nope, it'll be super easy, barely an incovenience.

 

[Alicia]

Something inside tells me if this goes ahead it’s going to literally be unique in every aspect.

The approach, the surroundings, the park design, everything.

They have already gone in on this on so many levels, and they haven’t even made a decision or officially started.

Going ahead in England is massive. My feeling is now, that this won’t be a lift and shift at all.*

*I have absolutely nothing to confirm any of this other than my Gibbs gut.

I would look to the designs of Universal Beijing and Epic Universe for an idea of what we can expect.

And while no cloned rides from Orlando seems like this park will be wholly original, there’s a lot at Hollywood and Beijing that is not in Orlando. I do expect some entirely new original attractions though, just as Beijing opened with new Kung Fu Panda. And some lands may feature cloned rides with new themes, like the layout for Hulk but a new Transformers theme for Beijing.

I think we all agree Beijing’s entry hotel and CityWalk style area is what we can expect just outside the park here as well.