Paramount London Resort to be delayed another year

Plans for a theme park-megaresort in Kent hit a new stumbling block on Friday, with bosses of the company behind it confirming the planning application will be delayed by another year.

The £3.2bn Paramount London Resort, being developed by London Resort Company Holdings, was set to submit its proposals this summer, but concerns over the traffic route into the park will see a new series of public meetings held before revised plans are drawn up.

Under current proposals, an access route will connect with the A2 at Bean, and run beside the HS1 high-speed railway through Ebbsfleet.

Both options in the current proposal include some serious road construction at the junction with the A2, involving either a high-capacity gyratory system, or a ‘hamburger’ roundabout that separates Paramount and local traffic.

The new round of consultation will be the fifth run by the developers, with chief executive David Testa saying they received a wealth of feedback from their consultations last year.

That feedback, along with new information Testa says has been collected from further studies, has allowed the company to refine its masterplan, he added.

“We were always conscious that there was a need to share more detailed information in relation to transport and ecology and we’ve been working hard on those reports.”

The dispute comes after a recent spat with the Peninsula Management Group, which represents more than 140 businesses situated on land at three trading estates on the Swanscombe Peninsula,, on land required for the resort.

They claim 4,500 jobs could be lost from the area, with £500m compensation required, if businesses are forced to close or relocate elsewhere.

London Resort Company Holdings claims the development will create 27,000 jobs.