Tourist attractions: A huge butterfly centre near St Albans and an aquatic Eden Project near Bedford are under way. Stacey Meadwell reports.
Councils in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire are hoping that butterflies and fish will do for their economies what the Eden Project has done for Cornwall’s.
Local authorities in both counties have ambitious plans for educational leisure attractions, each with its own Eden Project-esque dome, which they hope will attract visitors in their droves.
Butterfly World outside St Albans will, according to its proponents, be the largest walk-through butterfly park in the world. Research done by the London School of Economics puts expected visitor numbers at 800,000 pa.
According to a Bedford council source, the proposed £600m freshwater aquatic centre for the National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats is expected attract 2m visitors pa, some 500,000 more than Cornwall’s Eden. The centre will be on a 227-acre disused clay pit outside Bedford.
Experts are divided over the spin-off benefits for local businesses. But, before theories can be tested, both schemes have funding issues to be resolved – not a comfortable position to be in given the economic climate.
Butterfly World is being built in two phases. The first phase of infrastructure and gardens has funding and is due to be completed next June. Phase two is the dome, which will inevitably be the main attraction. It will be financed by a share offer.
NIRAH has outline consent. It will be around three times bigger than the Eden Project, and include a mix of educational leisure, conservation and research facilities, alongside a more commercial water park. No funding has been secured, but it is being sought from, among others, Middle Eastern investors.
Councillor Richard Stay, deputy leader of Bedfordshire county council, says: “The vision behind all of this is that Bedfordshire is somewhere people travel through to get somewhere else. It already has a strong tourist pull in attractions such as Whipsnade zoo and Woburn Abbey, but nothing world class. Putting NIRAH in may make it a real destination and, along with the planned Center Parcs at Warren Wood, it could have huge spin-offs.”
Tim Smith, director at Humberts Leisure, has advised on both Butterfly World and NIRAH. He believes that knock-on benefits will affect the surrounding area.
“These schemes do attract a significant benefit not only in creating jobs but also in attracting people to the area and increasing spend, whether it is filling up the car, stopping for a pub lunch or going to another attraction.”
Indeed, the LSE research on Butterfly World estimates that the average spend per head outside the attraction would be £15.70 for day trippers and £108.70 for those staying away from home.
But some believe the schemes are not simply about creating attractions. Malcolm Allan, director at destination consultancy Locum, says that such attractions are not going to elicit significant spend unless there are other amusements close by.
Mark Sheehan, managing director at Coffer Corporate Leisure, agrees. He says that it is all down to the type of attraction. “Huge parks such as Alton Towers and Thorpe Park are destinations in their own right, and have little impact on local business, the exception being hotels,” he says.
With funding issues resolved, Butterfly World should be fully open in 2011 and NIRAH in 2012.
How is the credit crunch affecting the three counties’ retail developments? Alex Hadwick reports on the progress, or lack of it, at five proposed schemes
Hemel Hempstead, Waterhouse Square
Developer Thornfield, unperturbed by the credit crunch, is pushing ahead with a £350m development in Hemel Hempstead to regenerate the town centre. It will include 100,000 sq ft of retail and a performing arts centre.
The developer, which is 50% owned by HBOS, is working on a masterplan for the scheme, which should be ready early next year with a planning application expected in May.
Letchworth
Planning permission was granted last month to the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation for the regeneration of the Wynd areas of the town centre. Plans include 23 shops and 113 flats. Work is not expected to start until 2010.
LGCH has also commissioned architect Colman to draw up plans for a £55m mixed-use scheme called the Arena, which will include 235 homes, 80,000 sq ft of retail and 8,000 sq ft of leisure.
Hatfield town centre regeneration
Developer St Modwen has been forced to seek prelets for its £100m, 150,000 sq ft retail scheme. Development director Rupert Wood says: “The economic climate is very challenging, and we are therefore collecting leases for prelets to secure finance for the build.”
Anchored by a Wilkinson store, the scheme will be built in phases and is expected to take four years longer to be completed than first anticipated.
Harlow town centre
Stockland Halladale is working up plans for a mixed-use scheme in Harlow town centre as part of the Harlow Gateway regeneration scheme.
Harlow council’s preferred developer is working alongside the county council and English Partnerships to create a vision for residential, retail, cinema, hotel and leisure uses.
The project is scheduled to begin in 2010 and be completed in 2014.
Hitchin
After plans for the town centre redevelopment were ripped up following an EU ruling in January last year on procurement of bids for projects, the town council has pushed ahead with seeking tenders through the Official Journal of the European Union. As yet, no developers have submitted plans.
