Universal Great Britain

[extrobeiuf]

in my humble opinion, that is not a good use of government funds

A lot of the work this covers need(ed) to happen anyway. The details haven't been published, but I suspect this isn't all incremental spend (or at least future spend brought forward). The M1 J13 upgrades being a great example - if you've ever traversed that M1/A421 junction, you'd know it was a hot mess and needs rebuilding - with or without Universal.

(Essentially - A421 was upgraded in phases over ~15 years, with responsibility split between Milton Keynes and Bedford, with the M1 junction being the delineation. As a result, it was never really integrated properly with the existing junction, just slapped on top of the existing one. It needs redesigning and rebuilding)

 

[bedfordmassive]

I’ve just been through the Wixams station build - site all fenced off, cleared, levelled etc and plenty of activity on site.

I struggle to see the £250m cost of a 4 platform station. Maybe it will be a Eurostar one (though the site looks to small) or the figure includes other rail upgrades.

 

[xtpower]

Universal have submitted the request for the SDO.

They've sent a local letter updating on progress.

https://universalukproject.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/june-2025-local-letter.pdf

 

[rob@rar]

Honestly, I don’t know. There are local rumours circling that Universal expect full planning consent by August, and that work will actually ramp up on site before the end of the year.

I don't think there is time for the next steps in the planning process for that to be completed by July.

 

[xtpower]

I don't think there is time for the next steps in the planning process for that to be completed by July.

They submitted the request today, so what sort of timeline would we be looking at?

 

[rob@rar]

They submitted the request today, so what sort of timeline would we be looking at?

I think it's difficult to know as this is pretty much a unique way to consider and grant planning permission for a project of this nature, so there is no precedent to look at to see how long other proposals of this kind took. But there's going to have to be some sort of time allowed for whatever consultation the DHCLG is going to run - it's interesting that Bedford Council has just scheduled an Extraordinary meeting of their Executive Committee (which will undertake the Council's response to the planning application) for 30 July. Once the Secretary of State at DHCLG (Angela Raynor) approves the government's final decision (which is going to be 'Yes") there needs to be a few weeks for a basic parliamentary process of actually approving the Special Development Order, which takes three weeks I think, but this needs Parliament to be sitting, which it won't be from about mid-July. So the process probably won't be concluded until the Autumn when Parliament resumes, which is what Bedford Council are on record as saying will be when the planning will be approved.

 

[rob@rar]

The Department for Housing, Communities & Local Government has published a note on the procedure it will use for assessing Universal's planning application.

Edit: for the correct link, see the next post!

 

[xtpower]

The Department for Housing, Communities & Local Government has published a note on the procedure it will use for assessing Universal's planning application.

Link doesn't work Rob.

*edit* Managed to find it myself - Bedford Entertainment Resort Complex: Handling Arrangements

 

[yepthatguy]

So we should all be able to see the plans in the next few weeks or so hopefully.

I’m interested to see how detailed the actual theme park area plans will be.

 

[rob@rar]

So we should all be able to see the plans in the next few weeks or so hopefully.

I’m interested to see how detailed the actual theme park area plans will be.

I've been invited to submit comments on Universal's proposals. Public consultation on the documents submitted by Universal will begin on 3 July and will close on 31 August. The documents will be available online, or can be consulted at the DHCLG, Bedford Council or Central Bedfordshire Council. If you're really keen you can even purchase printed copies of the documentation for the princely sum of £3,328. I'll be consulting them online

If the public consultation finishes on 31 August I'd guess that it will be in to the Autumn before the government reaches a decision on the planning proposal and the required parliamentary procedure is completed. This is the timetable that Bedford Council is expecting, so I it looks like things are proceeding according to expectations.

 

[xtpower]

I've been invited to submit comments on Universal's proposals. Public consultation on the documents submitted by Universal will begin on 3 July and will close on 31 August. The documents will be available online, or can be consulted at the DHCLG, Bedford Council or Central Bedfordshire Council. If you're really keen you can even purchase printed copies of the documentation for the princely sum of £3,328. I'll be consulting them online

If the public consultation finishes on 31 August I'd guess that it will be in to the Autumn before the government reaches a decision on the planning proposal and the required parliamentary procedure is completed. This is the timetable that Bedford Council is expecting, so I it looks like things are proceeding according to expectations.

Recess has meant we've always expected the decision in the autumn, so there's no big surprise here. But it is nice to have a proper timetable for things and confirmation we'll have access to the planning docs, which is great news for the sleuths and whatnot.

 

[Altonsky]

I've been invited to submit comments on Universal's proposals. Public consultation on the documents submitted by Universal will begin on 3 July and will close on 31 August. The documents will be available online, or can be consulted at the DHCLG, Bedford Council or Central Bedfordshire Council. If you're really keen you can even purchase printed copies of the documentation for the princely sum of £3,328. I'll be consulting them online

If the public consultation finishes on 31 August I'd guess that it will be in to the Autumn before the government reaches a decision on the planning proposal and the required parliamentary procedure is completed. This is the timetable that Bedford Council is expecting, so I it looks like things are proceeding according to expectations.

3 grand!! What a racket

 

[xtpower]

3 grand!! What a racket

You just know someone will pay that and then frame them. Fortunately I couldn't afford it even if I was inclined.

 

[rob@rar]

You just know someone will pay that and then frame them. Fortunately I couldn't afford it even if I was inclined.

I’d guess that rather than frame them there’ll be enough pages to paper your entire house with.

 

[yepthatguy]

I’d guess that rather than frame them there’ll be enough pages to paper your entire house with.

I think it may contain literally thousands of documents. That’s someone told me at least.

£1 a page

 

[yepthatguy]

I've been invited to submit comments on Universal's proposals. Public consultation on the documents submitted by Universal will begin on 3 July and will close on 31 August. The documents will be available online, or can be consulted at the DHCLG, Bedford Council or Central Bedfordshire Council. If you're really keen you can even purchase printed copies of the documentation for the princely sum of £3,328. I'll be consulting them online

If the public consultation finishes on 31 August I'd guess that it will be in to the Autumn before the government reaches a decision on the planning proposal and the required parliamentary procedure is completed. This is the timetable that Bedford Council is expecting, so I it looks like things are proceeding according to expectations.

A bit of a wild rumour is, that the gov already have it all, and have had for a while. Hence why the other rumour is it will get rubber stamped so quickly.

Could be rubbish, but hey speculating is half the fun.

It’s exciting the docs will be available in less than a week right?

 

[rob@rar]

A bit of a wild rumour is, that the gov already have it all, and have had for a while. Hence why the other rumour is it will get rubber stamped so quickly.

Could be rubbish, but hey speculating is half the fun.

It’s exciting the docs will be available in less than a week right?

I think it's almost certain that nothing in the proposal from Universal will have been a surprise the the government. There's no way on Earth that the Prime Minister would make an announcement in No.10 that this project was going to happen without the government knowing exactly what Universal were planning to do. There have been months and months of discussion and negotiation between Universal and the government, so while the planning application process is important there is only one possible outcome: planning approved. Unless, of course, Universal have been very stupid and decided right at the last minute to ask permission for all sorts of things unknown to the government which it could not possible approve, but I think there's zero chance that Universal are that dumb.

 

[rob@rar]

Details of the consultation process. It's a PDF document, so hope this is viewable, somehow.

 

[EllieB]

That's brilliant, thanks for sharing Rob.

So anyone can view the documents (once the consultation process opens) - can anyone comment on them too?

I'm tempted to go see them in person somewhere, just because I think that would be fascinating!

 

[rob@rar]

So anyone can view the documents (once the consultation process opens) - can anyone comment on them too?

Yes, and yes.