The list of forthcoming decisions published by Bedford Council has been updated again, with the decision-due date moved from September to November. This relates to the Council's response to the statutory consultation which the government will undertake on Universal's environmental statement for their planning application.
Universal Great Britain
- Thread starter AlexanderMBush
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Seen it a million times before. The date gets pushed further back and nothing ever happens.
- Dec 27, 2023
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Yeah, it happens EVERY TIME a major international theme park is planned to open just outside Bedford.
- Nov 29, 2023
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Internal delays like this probably happen EVERYTIME a new big Theme Park or Resort is being planned, we just never see it cuz we aren’t aware anything is going on, unlike with this Park where we’re tapped into the processes and things happening behind the scenes moreso than other Parks and Resorts that Universal have built
That's what the DCMS will be waiting on. Undoubtedly the previous government will not have budgeted for whatever costs will be incurred on the transport infrastructure that Universal is going to need around the park, so Ministers will not be able simply to give the go-ahead for that work to be agreed until there is an approved budget to cover the cost of the work. I have no idea how much it costs to build the infrastructure (a dual-carriageway link, a couple of train station?) but it's going to be at least £100M I'd have thought. In the overall scale of the investment Universal is proposing that's not massive, but it's not chicken feed so Lisa Nandy and her fellow Ministers in the DCMS are going to have to make a strong case to the Treasury to get that approved (competing with the multitude of strong cases all other Ministers will be making). Undoubtedly there's a huge amount of work going on right now as the new government prepares to give it's first Budget Statement on 30 October. Until the overall picture of government spending is agreed it's unlikely that any Minister will be approving work costing £100Ms unless it was already budgeted for by the previous government.
The delay to things like the consultation that I linked to above I'm sure is just a reflection of things having to wait until the government gets a clear view on overall spending.
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- Jan 30, 2024
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More ongoing snippets in local newspaper.
You certainly wouldn't be touring the local businesses with the Mayor if negotiations were at a point that there was a high chance of Universal going elsewhere. No, I think things are still on schedule and while the election delayed things, nothing untoward is happening and Universal are still pushing forward.
- Dec 28, 2023
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Also something on the bbc this morning .
It’s cool they have done a tour of the town photo opp. The first picture is an covered “arcade” which has loads of small businesses, but last time I visited I counted about 10 empty, it was a bit sad seeing whitewashed windows. Maybe the mayor has pointed that out.
Get a universal mega store in the town centre haha
Interesting quote from the plant shop owner “once it’s announced”..
I hope so my friend!
Universal theme park could 'unlock enormous potential' of Bedford
An executive from the company meets local businesses to discuss plans for its first UK theme park.
www.bbc.co.uk
It’s cool they have done a tour of the town photo opp. The first picture is an covered “arcade” which has loads of small businesses, but last time I visited I counted about 10 empty, it was a bit sad seeing whitewashed windows. Maybe the mayor has pointed that out.
Get a universal mega store in the town centre haha
Interesting quote from the plant shop owner “once it’s announced”..
I hope so my friend!
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Interesting comment on one of the Facebook groups from Marc Frost, Bedford Borough councillor for Wixams, who said “The SDO [Special Development Order] shouldn’t be too long now. Sit tight.” Cllr Frost, along with most other councillors for Bedford, received an update from Universal earlier this week.
Good to see the Council and Universal continue to showcase the economic benefits of building a world class theme park in Bedford. You don’t need to be a theme park fan to be excited by this project.
Good to see the Council and Universal continue to showcase the economic benefits of building a world class theme park in Bedford. You don’t need to be a theme park fan to be excited by this project.
- Dec 28, 2023
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Wonder if Chancellor Rachel Reeves might be tempted to make an announcement in her Budget Speech on 30 October?
She could highlight that with support from central government billions of pounds of foreign investment has been unlocked, creating thousands of jobs, boosting domestic and overseas tourism, regenerating a brownfield site by cutting through traditional planning permission regulations. All hot-button issues for the new government, and a little bit of good news in what could be a fairly bleak financial statement.
- Dec 28, 2023
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Maybe there’ll be clues potentially but I don’t think it’ll be that open as such.
I’m expecting doom and gloom which is what they said it’ll be
Ha! Me neither.
I hope there’s going to be some clues and a bit of happiness because the whole affair in October is going to be quite depressing.
But they’re giving out doom and gloom messages. I don’t think giving out hundreds of thousand of pounds to a multi national company that’s worth billions is going to cut the mustard when they’re taking winter fuel payments away from pensioners.
I said this earlier, Comcast would have gotten more from a Tory government. I’m not saying this project isn’t going to happen by any means, and I know this comment is political but the whole project right now is political.
It’d be nice to have some good news within the budget but I don’t think the messaging would land well.
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If they announced and I dropped 2 grand on a new drone then they backtracked I'd be pi**ed!
Fingers crossed Labour will roll over and give Universal what they are asking like they did for the Unions.
Fingers crossed Labour will roll over and give Universal what they are asking like they did for the Unions.
Let’s hope they do! But the begging bowl is firmly out and pensioners, working people are being attacked.
I’d support it because of the longer term benefit of the project but PR wise it’d be a disaster.
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- Feb 23, 2023
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These large projects are very rarely (I’d say almost never) the economic boon for local communities that the companies (and government) claim they are. If the park gets built, that’ll be super for theme park fans. But I’m extremely skeptical that it’ll mean great things for the people and businesses in Bedfordshire.
I’m obviously not a UK taxpayer, but I’d want Labour to fight Comcast tooth and nail over this if I was.
I’m obviously not a UK taxpayer, but I’d want Labour to fight Comcast tooth and nail over this if I was.
I think there’ll be a mix of pros and cons tbh.
For example those that currently own homes will benefit, those that are born in the area and may want to buy in the area when they’re older won’t benefit because they’ll be priced out.
That could be said for any tourist area. Heavy tourist areas don’t foster communities they often destroy them unless you have the financial means to stay put.
I’m manifesting that this goes ahead, I think it will do and I hope it does because the long term benefits are substantial.
I am however slightly worried that we have a current administration may be penny wise, pound foolish.
For those outside of the UK Labours first financial budget is due at the end of October. The messaging so far from the press and labour themselves has been very negative, they’re scrapping things such as the winter payments to pension for example.
They have also cut the local train station that was supposed to open in my area. I’m not saying one way or the other whether I agree with these decisions, that’s debatable.
I am however worried about this project and its viability from a PR perspective when these decisions are being made. The general public will obviously be asking (even though it makes long term financial sense) why payments are being given to a huge corporation like Comcast.
Also, Comcast have a had a very good tax relationship with the tories, they’ve received hundreds of millions in rebates like every other media company that wanted to film here. No one knows whether these rebates will still be in place at the end of October, for all we know they may improve.
But Comcast like any multinational I assume would have taken their financial decision based upon the current government, their relationship with that government (that were in charge for 14 years) and the financial incentives they were receiving.
I’m slightly worried, that’s it. People may moan about this conversation being political and I’m not pinning my flag to any mast. But Disney and Reedy Creek was inherently political, these things are.
The messaging from our current administration is mixed, people are angry, upset and whatever else. Whether that has an impact upon this project remains to be seen.
They can do PR walks with all the councillors they want but it’s the bean counters in London that ultimately make the decision, not a councillor in Bedford.
Plenty of projects have had cross party support and have failed so I’m personally trying to temper my expectations because nothing is 100% guaranteed, especially now.
