Universal Studios‘ upcoming theme park in the UK has just made a huge step towards becoming a reality. The park has been given planning permission to start developing the site located in Kempston Hardwick, close to Bedford. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government has officially issued a Special Development Order (SDO) for the complex to be built.
The new park is expected to draw more than 8 million visitors a year.
Specific details about each ride remain under wraps, but “James Bond,” “Paddington,” and “The Lord of the Rings” are all expected to be utilised. As of right now, “Harry Potter” will not be included in the initial slate of rides. This is mainly due to copyright issues with Warner Bros. Pictures that may change down the line. With the way companies keep merging, we’re all going to be under a cyberpunk-esque megacorporation soon enough anyway.
“Warner Bros has the UK rights to Harry Potter attractions. They tried to find a way round it but couldn’t. That could change in years to come, though,” a source told the BBC.
According to planning documents released in July, some structures are 377ft (115m) tall. Meaning that Universal’s new park will have the tallest rides in Europe. Plans include parking for 7,000 cars, with additional spaces for hundreds of guests to come via buses and bicycles. The Bedford Borough Council say that the park will provide £50bn of “economic benefit to the economy.”
This early into the process there is no set time frame for the new park to open, but it could be as soon as 2031.
