PROJECT PLAY

PROJECT

We were instructed by Chessington World of Adventures Resort to support its proposed redevelopment of an existing area within the theme park to provide a new themed land scheduled to open in 2026. The new land includes fours rides and a new retail/ facilities area.

APPROACH

Initially, we supported the Resort at its public consultation event where we engaged with local residents and staff at Chessington to both identify and understand their accessibility and transport impact concerns that were raised.

We subsequently built upon our experience of similar schemes both at Chessington World of Adventures and other Merlin attractions across the country to develop the transport evidence base required to determine any potential impact. A Transport Statement was prepared which confirmed that as a ‘replacement’ themed land and with a commitment to the existing Travel Plan, Project Play was not forecast to give rise to an unacceptable impact on the operation of the local highway network or give rise to a material increase in the number of visitors to the Resort.

OUTCOME

Our Transport Statement concluded that Project Play was consistent with relevant land use and transport planning policy and that there were no highways and/ or transport related reasons for the refusal of the Resort’s planning application. Planning permission subject to conditions was granted by the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames in February 2025.