Latest news with #PARKLIFE
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
UK's first garden city in 100 years is £3.9BILLION ‘major destination' with 15,000 homes, 50 parks & new supermarkets
The ambitious project could be completed within the next decade PARK LIFE UK's first garden city in 100 years is £3.9BILLION 'major destination' with 15,000 homes, 50 parks & new supermarkets Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HUGE plans to create the UK's first garden city in a century are underway. The ambitious proposals will transform unused land into a bustling green city and are slated to be finished in the next decade. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 The new garden city will be the UK's first in a century Credit: Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Ltd 5 The plans will add 15,000 new homes Credit: Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Ltd 5 The city will be built by transforming unused land Credit: Ebbsfleet Landmark Project Ltd The idea for Ebbsfleet Garden City was born in 2015 following soaring demand for more houses in Kent. Costing almost £4 billion, the plans aim to create the first garden city in 100 years across 2,500 acres of brownfield land on the Kent Thames Riverside. Ebbsfleet will feature a staggering 15,000 new homes with 50 new parks and open spaces. Green and blue space will comprise 40% of the city by 2035, which is when the project is expected to be finished. It will, according to developers, become a place for Brits to "grow a family, build a business, socialise, and enjoy a unique city-country lifestyle on the edge of London and Kent." The planning application is expected to be submitted later this year. It will be made up of a collection of brownfield development sites within Dartford and Gravesham Boroughs. Three major projects comprise the Ebbsfleet Garden City: Ebbsfleet Central, Northfleet Embankment and Community buildings and spaces. Ebbsfleet Central will be a mixed-use residential and commercial area and will feature around 2,100 homes, of which 35 per cent are Affordable Housing. It will also include up to 100,000 square metres of office floor space and 10,000 square metres of retail floor space. Huge new £1.3billion redevelopment to create new 'cultural hub' in London This will be for restaurants, bars, cafes and supermarkets. A great option for commuters, Ebbsfleet Central is just 17 minutes from Central London. It is hoped that the revamped area will become a "magnet for inclusive economic growth" and a "destination of choice for investment and innovation". Ebbsfleet Development Corporation submitted the outline of the plans for the first phase of new development in Ebbsfleet Central in 2022. This includes building new leisure facilities, a new school and more open spaces for future residents. It also involves building the Eastgate Community Building in the middle of Springhead Park. This will be a church and a local community centre. It comes after Britain's newest town - built next to a major motorway - was set to cost a whopping £2.5billion with restaurants, shops and sports facilities. The Elms Park development, located in the north of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was approved by local authorities yesterday. Councils have given the go-ahead to the massive new town serving almost 9,000 people. It will be situated on the outskirts of the Cotswolds, just off junction 10 of the M5, and will feature roughly 60 acres for employment land. Tewkesbury Borough Council described the approval of the 4,115 homes as the "biggest decision" it had ever made. The plans include a 25-acre business park, a hotel, shops, cafes, new schools, healthcare facilities and a transport hub. Elms Park Consortium, led by house builders Bloor Homes and Persimmon, claims that the project will create as many as 8,000 jobs in the area. It estimates that the development will provide 1,000 affordable homes while generating up to £300m for the local economy each year. Rob White, agent for the applicant, said: "Approximately £25m will be spent on community infrastructure. 'It will contribute £300 million a year into the sub-regional economy, creating and supporting over 8,000 new jobs, with 30 apprenticeships a year during construction over 20 years. "Over 4000 new homes will be built, providing for a new community of around 9,000 residents, many of whom will already be living in the area. 'Approximately £50 million pounds will be spent on providing new schools, including a secondary school and two primary schools on site. 'A sports hub containing new facilities for cricket, football, tennis, and an all-weather 3G pitch will be provided on site along with significant contributions to local rugby and hockey clubs. 'They are committed to bringing forward Elms Park as a well-designed, sustainable and healthy place where the new community can thrive.' 5 It will also include up to 100,000 square metres of office floor space Credit: Alamy
Scottish Sun
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Plans to bulldoze & transform iconic UK theme park are revealed – after site left to rot for 12 YEARS
Despite repeated rejections of planning applications, the owners have submitted a bold redevelopment plan PARK LIFE Plans to bulldoze & transform iconic UK theme park are revealed – after site left to rot for 12 YEARS THE iconic Camelot theme park in Lancashire, which has been rotting for 12 years, could be replaced with a 350-home village under new proposals. Inspired by the legend of King Arthur, the now decaying, desolate theme park opened in Chorley in 1983, closing its doors in 2012. 5 Graffiti now cakes the theme park, which was once a favourite with kids Credit: Donna Clifford/ Magnus News 5 But eerie remnants of its former glory remain Credit: SWNS:South West News Service It enthralled punters with rides and restaurants inspired by the mythical king, the knights of the Round Table and Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur for 41 years. It even boasted a live jousting ring. Local legend has it that the area was once covered by the largest freshwater lake in England, Martin Mere, until it was drained in 1692. The story goes that Arthur's number two, Sir Lancelot's parents, King Ban of Benwich and his queen Elaine, escaped to Lancashire from their sworn enemies in France. Elaine helped King Ban, who had fallen and briefly left her son, Lancelot, on the shore of the lake, where he was abducted by a nymph, Vivian, who vanished into the depths of the lake with him. Nymph Vivian raised Lancelot as her own, and he was later knighted "Sir Lancelot of the Lake." But it shuttered its doors in 2012 after nearly 30 years of bewitching children and adults alike, with its owners blaming bad weather and the Olympics for reduced footfall. After being bulldozed in 2020, eerie overhead images showed decapitated statues, rusty roller coasters and restaurants overgrown with vines. Perhaps the most spooky are the sinister medieval canopies where jousting was once hosted. Since its closure, it's only been used for the occasional live-action zombie horror experiences, commercialising the spooky scene. Six Flags park that opened its gates in 1974 to close permanently in November But the current owners, Story Homes, have approached Chorley Borough Council with a 'Screening Opinion' request to identify environmental issues before requesting a full planning application for a spanking new village. They claim that the planned housing development would blend seamlessly with the local landscape. Story Homes told the Express: "The area is characterised by development including residential dwellings to the west, and M6 to the east, which is already an urbanised area and would therefore not distinctly change the character of the area." A screening opinion is a formal way for the developers to suss whether or not an Envinronmental Impact Assesment (EIA) will be needed. The request to develop 350 homes is bold considering that multiple planning applications on the Camelot site have been rejected due to a lack of infrastructure and fears around the green belt. A planning application for 420 homes was rejected in 2014, another application for a more modest 275 homes was rejected in 2016. Once again, in 2018, Story Homes had plans for a misely 195 homes on the site rejected. Research in 2019 estimated that you could feasibly build 6,294 new homes on the 140-acre site, with a theoretical value of £790million. The latest request states: "It is the intention that an application will be submitted for the following: 'Outline planning application (with all matters reserved save for the principal means of access) for a residential development of up to 350 homes (Use Class C3) and community hub, with associated habitat creation, landscaping, open space, parking, footpaths/cycleways, drainage and other infrastructure'. "The proposed development includes a residential-led scheme for up to 350 homes, to deliver a mix of much-needed family homes and a community hub that can offer an accessible local facility for the community." It explains that "a series of sustainable transport measures will be proposed, such as off-site pedestrian and cycle link improvements and bus service improvements," and that "suitable standoff distances will be embedded" into the master plan to protect existing sensitive habitats. 5 Brick by brick, the desolate, decaying eyesore may finally make way for much-needed new homes Credit: Donna Clifford/ Magnus News 5 The ghost towns' vacant restaurants were once buzzing Credit: SWNS:South West News Service
