'Disney-style' resort bigger than Olympic park planned for Kent

A disused cement works site in Kent is to be turned into a £2 billion theme park on the scale of Disneyland Paris.

The project will feature Europe’s largest indoor water park, roller coasters, theatres, live music venues, cinemas, restaurants and hotels.

Redevelopment of the brownfield land on the Swanscombe Peninsula, between Dartford and Gravesend, would see it transformed into an area twice the size of the Olympic park.

A consortium of companies have set up London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) and have already signed a licensing deal with Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures to develop the 872-acre site.

The theme park is expected to create more than 27,000 jobs and inject millions of pounds into the local economy, with LRCH comparing the regeneration to the effect of the Olympic park on east London.

Tony Sefton, project leader for LRCH, said: “Our vision is to create a world class entertainment destination, the first of its kind in the UK.

“We are at the start of a long journey, but have been encouraged by the support and buy-in we have had to date.”

The site is located close to three major roads as well as Ebbsfleet International station and the High Speed One train link, meaning that visitors would have a short, 17-minute journey from St Pancras to the theme park rather than a two-hour trip to Disneyland Paris.

LRCH is now seeking international investors for the project and intends to ask the Government for help with funding some of the infrastructure costs, with a provisional opening date of 2018.

But the park could meet with objections from conservationists. The site is close to where the remains of the 250,000-year-old “Swanscombe Man” were found and a wildlife haven for wading birds is nearby.