Consultation: Request for planning permission - Entertainment Resort Complex, Bedford

Overview

Topic of this consultation:

This consultation invites comments (representations) on a request from Universal Destinations & Experiences to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (“MHCLG”) seeking planning permission for an Entertainment Resort Complex and associated development at the former Brickworks and adjoining land, Kempston Hardwick, Bedford (“the Proposal”).  The Proposal is accompanied by a statement referred to as an Environmental Statement. 

Scope of this consultation:

Comments (representations) are invited on the Proposal, including the plans, drawings, Environmental Statement, and other associated documents that accompanied it. Please base your comments on land use and planning matters.                                                                                                                                                         

Geographical scope: The request for planning permission relates to the development of land in Bedford, England.

Basic Information

Body/bodies responsible for the consultation: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (“MHCLG”)

Duration: This consultation will begin at 12:00 BST on 3 July 2025 and end at 12:00 BST on 31 August 2025.

Any comments (representations) submitted after this date may not be taken into account.

Enquiries: For any enquiries about the consultation, please contact: MHCLG@mottmac.com

How to respond

Citizen Space is the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (“MHCLG”) online consultation portal and our preferred route for receiving consultation responses. We strongly encourage responses to be made via Citizen Space, particularly from organisations with access to online facilities such as local planning authorities, representative bodies and businesses. Consultations receive a high-level of interest across many sectors. Using the online survey greatly assists our analysis of the responses.

If you cannot respond via Citizen Space, you may send your response in writing to:

MHCLG c/o Mott MacDonald, Mott MacDonald 4th Floor, Mountbatten House, Grosvenor Square, Southampton, SO15 2JU.

Or send your response by email to:

MHCLG@mottmac.com

If you are responding in writing, please make it clear which document or documents you are commenting on.

When you reply, it would be helpful if you confirm whether you are replying as an individual or submitting an official response on behalf of a representative group or an organisation. 

If you are replying on behalf of a representative group or an organisation, please include:

• the name of your group or organisation,
• an address (including post code).

If you are responding online or in writing on behalf of a representative group or an organisation it would be helpful if, in your response, you gave a summary of the group or organisation you represent, and where relevant, who else you have consulted in reaching your conclusions on the Proposal documents.

Thank you for taking time to submit responses to this consultation. Your views will be taken into consideration throughout the decision process.

Introduction

MHCLG has received a request from Universal Destinations & Experiences that it grant planning permission for an Entertainment Resort Complex and associated development at the former Brickworks and adjoining land, Kempston Hardwick, Bedford (“the Proposal”). The request is accompanied by a statement referred to as an Environmental Statement.

The Proposal relates to land which is situated within 10 metres of relevant railway land as defined in Article 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.The proposed development does not accord with the provisions of the development plan in force in the area in which the land to which the Proposal relates is situated.

MHCLG has been asked to consider granting planning permission by making a Special Development Order for the Proposal under Section 59 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Consultation description

The process of Environmental Impact Assessment in the context of town and country planning in England is governed by the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. 

The aim of Environmental Impact Assessment is to protect the environment by ensuring that when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a project, which is likely to have significant effects on the environment (positive and negative), this is done in the full knowledge of the likely significant effects, and this is taken into account in the decision making process. The Promoter’s assessment is set out in a document referred to as an Environmental Statement.  

This consultation invites your comments on the following:

1. The Environmental Statement. This is accompanied by a Non-Technical Summary, which includes the main findings;
2. The planning merits of the Proposal, in light of the documents, plans, and drawings that accompanied the request to grant planning permission for it.

In responding to this consultation, we would also like to hear views about any potential impacts of the Proposal, or of any differential impact on persons with a relevant protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010 compared to persons without that protected characteristic, together with any appropriate mitigation measures.

The plans, drawings, Environmental Statement, and other associated documents submitted with the Proposal can be viewed online by visiting https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/request-for-planning-permission-entertainment-resort-complex-bedford. Further details of how you can inspect the documents are set out below.

Guide to the documents submitted with the request for planning permission. 

The Proposal and the material accompanying it is substantial. The Promoter of the development has produced a Guide to help you find the documents that you want to read.

The documents submitted in relation to the Proposal have been grouped into six parts as set out in Table 1 below.

The Environmental Statement can be found in Part two of the submitted documents. The Non-Technical Summary of the Environmental Statement can be found in Part five.

Other documents that may provide you with an overview of the Proposal, ahead of reading further details, are the Planning Statement and the Design & Access Statement, both these documents can be found in Part six.

Table 1: Grouped categories of documents

How you can view printed copies of the submitted documents

Printed copies of these documents are available to inspect weekdays for the duration of the consultation period at selected venues.

How you can request a printed copy of the submitted documents

Printed copies of the documents can be requested at a charge of £3,328.00 by contacting universalukproject@londoncommunications.co.uk

Any specific document requests (such as large print, audio or braille formats) and copies of individual documents can also be requested via the consultation website at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/request-for-planning-permission-entertainment-resort-complex-bedford.