Why does the South West of England lack major or semi-major theme parks?

[Nitefly]

Woah woah woah - you all seem to be forgetting about Wookey Hole.

 

[owenstreet7]

Hi guys. Despite us English people often acting like we have it badly in terms of major and semi-major theme parks, we actually have a fairly diverse selection spread quite nicely around the country. You have the cluster of major parks around London, you have Alton Towers and Drayton Manor in the West Midlands, you have Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the North West, you have Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, you have Fantasy Island in the East Midlands, you have Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and Pleasurewood Hills in East Anglia... quite a lot of England has a major or semi-major park nearby! But one key exception to that is the South West of England. South West England is the largest ONS statistical region in England in terms of area, encompassing the counties of Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, yet the most notable theme park the region has to offer would probably be either Brean Theme Park in Somerset or Crealy in Devon, which are definitely not major or semi-major parks on a nationwide scale. There are no parks in the South West that I would call semi-major; there are no parks that have any particularly notable draws beyond Pinfari and Reverchon +1 coasters, which is at odds with the rest of England. Most other regions of the country have at least one semi-major theme park, but the South West has nothing. With this in mind, I'd be interested to know; why does the South West of England lack major or semi-major theme parks? What are people's theories on this?

As someone who lives in the region (albeit at the very top of it, in Gloucestershire), I'll admit to being slightly stumped as to how the South West drew the short straw in terms of English theme parks. The region is awash with popular tourist and holiday destinations; Devon, Cornwall, Weston-super-Mare, Dorset and numerous other seaside resorts lying within the area are very popular and have hordes of tourists visiting them every summer. And even outside of the peak summer season, the region is not exactly short of major population centres to provide a captive audience. Bristol is one of the UK's most populous cities, and the likes of Swindon, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Exeter, Gloucester and Cheltenham, amongst others, also have considerable populations. The region has a prominent motorway, the M5, and parts of the region also have very favourable rail links with London through the GWR rail network. As far as I can see, the region has a lot going for it compared to some parts of England that manage to sustain major theme parks, yet there's nothing here in terms of notable theme parks. I can maybe understand why the furthest reaches of Cornwall don't really have anything, as there is very little captive population in that county, but surely somewhere like Somerset, Gloucestershire or Wiltshire has a good enough captive audience and good enough transport links to sustain a major or semi-major theme park? At very least, surely large parts of the South West could sustain a semi-major park on the scale of, say, Flamingo Land?

So I'd be intrigued to know; why do you think the South West of England lacks major or semi-major theme parks?

I'd say it's because the South West especially around Cornwall way is further away from most of the country and it relies on the tourist market.

You could say that the likes of Bournemouth, Weymouth or Bristol could sustain a major theme park although as you get into Devon and Cornwall, it goes into territory similar to Oakwood and Pleasurewood Hills where the market is tourists.

Flambards (a theme park with similar charm to a Pre-Peppa Pig World Paultons Park with it's exhibitions) has recently closed it's major rides including it's only rollercoaster and seems to be struggling. I know they're owned by the people who did the exact same thing to Lightwater Valley so it could be some different reasoning behind it (change of market)

I'd say it had the potential to take a path similar to Paultons Park however it doesn't have the same catchment area as Paultons which hampered this growth.

It's places like around London that are most likely to be successful for a major theme park to be built. Universal picked Bedford and I'd say this is the reason.

Let's say if a Theme Park gets built near Reading in Berkshire, I'd say it could be very successful based on the location (proximity to London, M4, Elizabeth Line, Good Connections by rail, competition or complementary to Merlin parks depending on target market).

 

[Nicky Borrill]

While not a specific “Theme Park”, the south west has the Eden Project, which is arguably a sizeable attraction that fits into the same “day out attraction” bracket that theme parks do.

Eden Project is incredible, and always extremely busy. Makes a great concert venue too.

Woah woah woah - you all seem to be forgetting about Wookey Hole.

Never actually been to Wookey Hole, is it any good or are you being sarcastic?

I'd say it's because the South West especially around Cornwall way is further away from most of the country and it relies on the tourist market.

You could say that the likes of Bournemouth, Weymouth or Bristol could sustain a major theme park although as you get into Devon and Cornwall, it goes into territory similar to Oakwood and Pleasurewood Hills where the market is tourists.

Flambards (a theme park with similar charm to a Pre-Peppa Pig World Paultons Park with it's exhibitions) has recently closed it's major rides including it's only rollercoaster and seems to be struggling. I know they're owned by the people who did the exact same thing to Lightwater Valley so it could be some different reasoning behind it (change of market)

I'd say it had the potential to take a path similar to Paultons Park however it doesn't have the same catchment area as Paultons which hampered this growth.

It's places like around London that are most likely to be successful for a major theme park to be built. Universal picked Bedford and I'd say this is the reason.

Let's say if a Theme Park gets built near Reading in Berkshire, I'd say it could be very successful based on the location (proximity to London, M4, Elizabeth Line, Good Connections by rail, competition or complementary to Merlin parks depending on target market).

I think the key thing to remember is, Matt said "Semi Major" all this talk of Disney, Universal, or even to some extent, Alton Towers, is well beyond what I imagine he had in mind.

Correct me if I'm wrong Matt, but as I previously mentioned, by that I took you to mean something like Paulton's or Drayton Manor tops?

Also Flambards is not a good reference point here... In all of my visits to Cornwall and Devon, I've only ever been as far as Flambards 3 or 4 times max. Anybody can see that Flambards is in a terrible location, and can only draw on a tiny catchment. It's pretty much at the very extreme end of the entire country. Matt was also talking about the SW in general, not just Cornwall and Devon. To service the entire SW, you'd need to be located in the East Devon / West Somerset area.

Somewhere between Exeter and Taunton, along that Motorway, would mean you can draw from the tourism industry in Devon and Cornwall, as well as the (some what) major population areas in the surrounding counties, like Bristol, Exeter, Bournemouth, Bath etc. Lots of Universities around there too.

This location would mean around 8 million people pass it in the summer on the way to Cornwall and Devon. I don't know about anybody else, but when travelling to Cornwall from the midlands, we often break each leg of the journey up with a day or a few hours somewhere in this area. Dawlish Warren on the way home last year! (NO, I wasn't allowed to get the cred )

Cheddar Gorge is one of the most spectacular things I've seen in this country, and it only hints at the surrounding geography.

I think you'll enjoy Winnats Pass and the surrounding Peak District, if you've never seen it, definitely worth a trip if you enjoyed Cheddar... It's stunning.

 

[Graeme]

'Disney' and 'Milton Keynes' are two words I never thought would be used in the same sentence and hopefully never will be again

Why's that? Do you not have the imagination, or are you just being obnoxious for the sake of it?

 

[Matt N]

I think the key thing to remember is, Matt said "Semi Major" all this talk of Disney, Universal, or even to some extent, Alton Towers, is well beyond what I imagine he had in mind.

Correct me if I'm wrong Matt, but as I previously mentioned, by that I took you to mean something like Paulton's or Drayton Manor tops?

Also Flambards is not a good reference point here... In all of my visits to Cornwall and Devon, I've only ever been as far as Flambards 3 or 4 times max. Anybody can see that Flambards is in a terrible location, and can only draw on a tiny catchment. It's pretty much at the very extreme end of the entire country. Matt was also talking about the SW in general, not just Cornwall and Devon. To service the entire SW, you'd need to be located in the East Devon / West Somerset area.

Somewhere between Exeter and Taunton, along that Motorway, would mean you can draw from the tourism industry in Devon and Cornwall, as well as the (some what) major population areas in the surrounding counties, like Bristol, Exeter, Bournemouth, Bath etc. Lots of Universities around there too.

This location would mean around 8 million people pass it in the summer on the way to Cornwall and Devon. I don't know about anybody else, but when travelling to Cornwall from the midlands, we often break each leg of the journey up with a day or a few hours somewhere in this area. Dawlish Warren on the way home last year! (NO, I wasn't allowed to get the cred )

Yes, I was referring to something on that sort of scale. I absolutely acknowledge that the South West would never sustain something like a Disney or Universal park, or even a national player like Alton Towers, but I think the region could definitely handle a semi-major park on the scale of Paultons Park or Drayton Manor or Flamingo Land or Fantasy Island or one of the numerous other semi-major parks in Britain with some noteworthy draw.

Looking at the map, I think Somerset would be a brilliant location on paper. Somewhere like Bridgwater or Taunton would be good, as you’d be near the M5 and within a 2 hour driving radius of most of the South West while also being driveable (within 2.5-3 hours) from places like South Wales, Birmingham and even parts of London and its wider built-up area.

 

[cocoa]

I'm no expert but it has always appeared to me that building theme parks in the UK is a complete pain in the arse. Local politics, meddling NIMBYs, a rare newt in every swamp, and even if you clear all that then they probably won't even let you build above the trees. I suspect the business environment is completely unappealing to anyone who would even have considered it. There probably is a feasible theme park location somewhere there but the costs to clear those social hurdles is probably immense

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I'm no expert but it has always appeared to me that building theme parks in the UK is a complete pain in the arse. Local politics, meddling NIMBYs, a rare newt in every swamp, and even if you clear all that then they probably won't even let you build above the trees. I suspect the business environment is completely unappealing to anyone who would even have considered it. There probably is a feasible theme park location somewhere there but the costs to clear those social hurdles is probably immense

Yep, a red tape minefield... A big part of Labour's manifesto is to fix all of that and get Britain building again though. They have the mandate, and the ability to get things like planning reform through with ease, due to that huge seat majority, so we'll see I guess.