A tourism strategy is being developed to make the most of the Universal UK theme park’s “once-in-a-generation investment” to transform the borough.
It’s part of a local visitor economy partnership; Bedford Borough Council’s first meeting of the Universal project overview and scrutiny committee was told.
“The visitor economy is something to build on and analyse how we can exploit that”, the local authority’s manager for strategic sites and inward investment, Patrick Lyons, explained.
“We’ve a real opportunity here to build on a transformational, once-in-a-generation investment to realise change across the whole borough. We’re looking at developing a tourism strategy as part of a local visitor economy partnership.
“Within the first part of the development in the core zone, as well as the theme park, a 500-bedroom hotel needs to be delivered, with parking and a security hub.
“But there’s also the city walk, and the retail, dining and nighttime entertainment uses at the front of the site, whether you have a theme park ticket or not.”
460 acres
The Universal project is on 460 acres of land by the A421 at Kempston Hardwick. This site was formerly owned by London Brick. It was acquired by Universal several years ago, according to Mr Lyons.
“There’s a £6bn investment by Universal and £1.4bn by the government in Bedford borough,” he said. “For the construction phase and the first 20 years of trading, a business case was put forward to government and verified.
“The expectation is for a £50bn direct and indirect economic benefit to the UK by 2050 through tax revenue and various levels of spend. It would be a major boost to local and UK tourism, attracting millions of new visitors to the region and the country.
“The parent company of Universal is Comcast, which is a tech business. Such an investment brings not just the leisure and hospitality option of a resort, but advanced engineering, digital, creative and technology sector investment with jobs created.
“So there are a number of new sectors, which will have the chance to expand and develop locally because of this project.
“The resort will become one of the largest employers in Bedfordshire and the region quite quickly, as soon as it opens, with anticipated job numbers of around 8,000 full- and part-time roles.
“About 80 per cent of those employees are anticipated to come from Bedford and the surrounding region, so a real benefit for local people through the scale of the opportunity available.
“The building phase is set to have a massive economic impact for the area, with 20,000 construction jobs expected to be created through the life cycle of the build.
“An estimated 5,000 workers would be on site building the resort through the peak phase.
“Among the main infrastructure is an expanded Wixams Railway Station, which will have a four-platform capacity to support the greater footfall passing through the station. New slip roads will be built off the A421.
“We’re dealing with one of the largest companies in the world. It’s anticipated to become the country’s number one most visited and popular tourist attraction.
“We’re talking more than 8m visitors in the first year, compared to 7.1m for the Natural History Museum, 6.4m for the British Museum and 5m for Windsor Great Park annually.”
Communities “front and centre”
This will grow over the years to more than 12m by year 20 of trading, he added. “So we’ll have one of the most popular visitor attractions in Europe in Bedford borough.
“A socio-economic task force is one of the requirements from Universal’s permission from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the special development order (SDO).
“Bedford Borough Council is playing an active role on that task force, which includes ensuring local people are job and skilled ready to access the employment opportunities from the construction phase and when the project is operational.”
Cllr Graeme Coombes (Conservative/Wixams and Wilstead ) asked how any negative effects of the development on residents would be mitigated.
Mr Lyons replied: “Our communities are front and centre in the mind of the council certainly. We’re working in partnership with Universal and the government.”
By Euan Duncan
Local Democracy Reporter
