Recently I went on a bike ride in my local area. Just by the edge of Ingress Park, in Northfleet Kent, there are miles of untouched marshland that is proposed to be a new super theme park.

The new London Paramount Entertainment Resort is set to open in North Kent on the Swanscombe Peninsula hopefully by 2021. The project first came about in 2014 and has since gone through lots of development stages including talking to the local community and many have shown interest in the opportunities and the benefits the park shall offer. Some of these opportunities include 27,000 full time jobs, not including construction workers. The park is also said to improve the local wildlife and regenerate the area, the existing non-used jetty shall be enhanced to facilitate boat access to the River Thames. It shall be the UK’s first of this type of theme park and will consist of hotels, a huge indoor waterpark and an arthouse style cinema just to name a few.

How do I feel about this? Well, of course I love theme parks and it could also offer me great prospects for my future. However, having that right on my doorstep and taking up peaceful land and bringing with it a lot of noise and disruption could be potentially chaotic. The roads around North Kent are atrocious as it is and with the vast amount of new houses being built in the area and with the approval of the new Thames Crossing; it seems as if North Kent could do without all the extra planning and constant construction it is facing. Furthermore, I cannot picture having such a huge resort so close to my house and I believe the novelty would soon wear off. The South East is also one of the busiest parts of the country, therefore is it the best option for the park to be placed?

A local resident to the area, Ms Bates, said; “I think it is quite an exciting opportunity as people will be traveling so far to get to something that I could just walk to for entertainment purposes. However, I am dubious of the outcome as there has been so much speculation and the area is already so packed!”

So watch the space on the Swanscombe Peninsula. After all the speculation and consultation, will the entertainment dream become a reality?

Lauren Woodley, Dartford Grammar School for Girls