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Camelot site development scrapped.

Re: Camelot site development scraped.

spacebum said:
There is a public consultation set for next week to find out what the local residents would like to see happen.
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It will be anything but a theme park. ANYTHING. No way in a trillion years would local residents say they'd like to see a park developed near them unless they are enthusiasts. And to be fair, I can't blame them, if I didn't give a rats ass about parks and creds then I wouldn't want increased traffic etc.

P.s. please add the second p to scrapped, my ocd alarm is on fire lol
 
Scraped was a much more apt word for Camelot though...

It will fall further into disrepair, further into neglect and become a horrid blight on the area making house prices fall and Chorley become something of a blight.

It's happened at Morecambe, Southport and Margate. If there isn't local support for a park, then the area will fall into the hands of greedy developers who can't get through the red tape and the site ends up a mess for dozens of years. Development investment comes in waves and is dependant on the current economy and free money to invest.

If the locals had allowed Camelot to expand and build bigger - supported them - there could have been a small, but thriving park there. Seasonal jobs for locals, income from passing trade and an active, vibrant visitors attraction.

Instead it became a blight nobody wanted to invest in due to the limitations and then you have a decade of decay and everyone is much worse off.
 
The council wants this issue to be solved prety quickly. As the permission for the cinema area in town has been granted. Camelot had a huge lack of support for many years. The location is one of the biggest problems. The only upside was the proximety to the motorway.

The developers couldnt force there plans through so now its gone into deadlock. In a way it maybe better to turn the land into farms.
 
Because agriculture is doing really well at the moment in the UK :lol:

In reality, they should flatten it and make it into some form of nature park, that's their best bet.
 
spacebum said:
The council wants this issue to be solved prety quickly. As the permission for the cinema area in town has been granted.
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Unless there's another bump in the economy before ground-breaking happens. If there is, that cinema build could be in hiatus for five years, further putting back the development and decision on Camelot's ground. All the while, the owners of the ground are not getting return on their investment until they ditch it to try and get something back.

It's the same story all over. Developers in Stafford bought a large site off the council, paid to demolish the old buildings then the downturn hit. Cinema permission was given in 2006 on the land, they started the build three months ago. In the meantime, the land sat ugly and idle and passed through three owners.

The council should have supported Camelot, but vested interests and greed always win over good sense.

Lofty said:
In reality, they should flatten it and make it into some form of nature park, that's their best bet.
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Are you just putting forward the same end fate for all ex-Granada group parks? :p
 
Its only since the park closed that the council realised that it was bringing in some extra money. Now they are wanting ways to get more people into town.

The old cash converters site in the town center sat idle for over three years. Now its going to become one of the mini carparks.
 
Chorley Council have always been quite supportive of Camelot, especially the current Labour administration who are looking to provide more variety and things-to-do in the area. They'd love the theme park to re-open, although are pragmatic that it won't.

The park exists on greenbelt land so there's limits on what can and cannot be done and while it's true that locals and the authorities could or should have encouraged expansion I think we all know that wasn't in Storey Homes plans. I went to meetings at the council which had been organised to see what could be done to help Camelot and use council resources to promote the park and area better but they just didn't bother turning up. They sent prepared statements about how attendance was dropping and that's just the way it is. They stopped communicating with the onsite hotel so there was no cross-promotion there.

Basically, despite the goodwill of residents and the council Storey Homes just wanted the site to build houses on and that was the long-term plan. It was only the recession that gave Camelot a stay of execution.

The original plans were rejected but, of course, the site gets worse and worse to the point where eventually they hope people will be willing to accept anything better. But my understanding is that the Council don't really care what Storey Homes want and adding houses to that area is not part of the plan. So it's stalemate. I expect houses will be built on the current vandalised Camelot site but not on any more of the fields, and there'll be fewer houses than Storey wanted.

As Lofty says, a nature park would have been nice. With a bit of better timing, the site could have been developed for Dave Whelan to make into Wigan Athletic's training grounds instead of closing the golf course on the other side of the motorway.

Meanwhile, in Chorley Town Centre... the cinema is 99% certain to go ahead and will be built within 18 months. Nearly all the units in the new development have been signed up for. How long it will last is another matter.

The Cash Converters site is being made into a car park because the leaseholder is Trevor Hemmings (former owner of Blackpool Tower, Central & South Piers, and Pontins) and he daren't actually build anything there because it'll cost him money and all his businesses are failing.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-yd8MO5ZLw A video done by TeEnZiE back in april 2014 an example of how easy it can be to urbex in the area. (Warning she likes to sware abit). Not sure how much of this is still standing as of yet.

Still not found anything about the chances of Knightmare going to Southport either.
 
As furie said, if the park had been given the support by locals things may have turned out differently. Who knows, if the Vekoma Invertigo had been allowed planning permission in 2000, that could have been the catalyst to build on.

From Joylands Books news page
Camelot's Vertigo Coaster Refused Planning Permission [8/12/00]

The proposed 130-foot Vertigo roller coaster, which was to have opened for the 2002 season at Camelot Theme Park, has had planning permission turned down by Chorley Borough Council. The ride, which was exclusively revealed by Joyland Books a few weeks ago, has been turned down by councillors due to residents complaints, despite planning officers recommending approval. The ride was to have replaced the ageing Tower of Terror ride, which was partly destroyed by fire, and would have been the latest investment by the park's owners, Prime Resorts Limited. Camelot is expected to announce a smaller replacement attraction shortly.


Fire Damages Camelot's Tower of Terror Roller Coaster [19/11/00]

The biggest attraction at the Camelot theme park at Chorley has been partially destroyed by fire. It took only 15 minutes for flames to completely destroy the facade of the 80-foot high Tower of Terror roller coaster. The ride was being dismantled by workmen, and was set alight by a spark from a cutting torch. The Tower has been severely damaged, and the ride itself has suffered some scorching. Six fire crews attended the blaze in which nobody was injured. camelot1.jpg (22551 bytes)

The future of the 12-year old roller coaster was in doubt in any event. The ride was being dismantled and will be replaced for the 2001 season. The much bigger replacement roller coaster is, however, causing much controversy. Park bosses are hoping to boost visitor numbers with the installation of the 130-foot high 'Vertigo' roller coaster. A spokesperson for the park describes Vertigo as a ride in which "a train is lifted 40m high before dropping to half its height through a series of loops." The ride, however, has met with opposition from local residents. Although planning officers at Chorley Borough Council recommended approval in October, councillors have insisted on a site visit, which will mean the planning application will not now be determined until December at the earliest.
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Story Homes latest submission for the Camelot site has been rejected! So the park will continue to rot for the foreseeable future.
In other news, the town's cinema still isn't built and Dave Whelan's plan for his football training ground also fell through.
 
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