Council outlines approach to Universal project

A council has outlined how it will approach the challenges posed by a new Universal theme park.

The government has confirmed the US giant will build the park on the site of the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks, near Bedford.

Laura Church, chief executive of Bedford Borough Council, said the authority had been in talks with Universal "for quite a while".

She said it would play a crucial role in the project's future development, including the planning and delivery of infrastructure.

In 2023 Universal Destinations and Experiences revealed it had purchased 480 acres of land near Stewartby.

A few months later, the US company started public engagement and held meetings with residents.

Ms Church said: "We worked with them when they did all of their engagement events previously and we will continue to work with them through the next stages."

As the park has national significance, the council will be working with central government.

"It will be government lead, but that means that they will still need to listen to us and we will want to be around the table talking to them," the chief executive explained.

She said Universal was keen to be involved in talks about infrastructure.

The A421, a key access road for the future park, flooded last year after severe rainfall.

Ms Church said: "That's one of the things that we will still be doing more work with them on.

"Universal want to be involved in those discussions."

Disruption during the building of the theme park would be kept to a minimum, the chief executive promised.

The area is seeing large projects such as the East West Rail line and improvements to the A428.

Ms Church said that had given the authority valuable experience of managing the impact of big schemes.

Universal estimates 8,000 jobs will be created once the site is operational.

During a visit to a college, the prime minister told students: "These are going to be the jobs of [you] and your colleagues for years to come."

Ms Church said: "I think that's one of the great opportunities - for us to work with colleges and with other organisations to really make sure that we're training that workforce of the future."

Universal also predicts 20,000 jobs will be created during the building of the park, with more than 5,000 workers on site at the peak of construction.

Ms Church said: "We've also got some really big construction companies in our patch already who are also already supporting growing the workforce."

"That will all come together... I see that as a very important part of our place leadership role."

The council said the biggest challenges would be providing more housing and health services.

"We will want to work with the health service to make sure that we are supporting work with them around workforce and also access to GPs," she said.

"So lots of challenges, but there are also opportunities."

Over the years many large projects have not been completed in the county, but the council is confident the Universal theme park will happen.

Ms Church said: "They acquired the land. They have been doing all the work in preparing for that. So yes, I see this happening."

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