Plans for several new attractions, a new holiday village, and a number of other developments at Legoland Windsor Resort were approved last night at a meeting of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council’s Planning Committee.
The proposals, which were submitted back in June 2017, had been recommended for refusal by the Council Planning Officer due to concerns over the development being on green belt land, and that the holiday village would see a number of mature trees damaged. The application also received a number of objections from local residents, however there was also a lot of support for the plans with some residents recognising the potential benefits the development could bring to the surrounding area. After debating for almost two hours, local councillors eventually decided to vote in favour of the plans, although due to the fact that the development does include green belt land, the plans will need to be referred to the secretary of state for communities for final consent.
As is usual with planning applications of this nature, the planning permission will be subject to a number of conditions to ensure the development is carried out within acceptable parameters. These conditions will now be determined by the Head of Planning at The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council with the plans being referred back to the planning committee if these are not agreed within two months.
The approved plans will see a total of eight projects undertaken at the Resort. Legoland Windsor have already announced The Haunted House attraction which will constitute their 2019 development. Also included within the scheme are plans for three ‘attraction zones’ which will feature a new indoor attraction – referred to in some documents as a potential rollercoaster, and two fairground style rides. With Legoland Florida recently announcing the LEGO Movie World, could these ‘attraction zones’ indicate where Windsor’s LEGO Movie World would be located within the park? The largest development will be the addition of a 450 room holiday village which will be built in three phases. The village will include both lodge accommodation and ‘Lego Barrels’, similar to those seen in Legoland Deutschland. Also included will be a building housing the reception, restaurant, shop, and entertainment facilities. A major refresh is also planned for ‘The Beginning’ area of the park, including a 10m high, LEGOLAND Windsor, entrance portal, and an extension to the current ticket sales and collection building and guest toilets. The Big Shop is also set to receive an expansion. Finally, a number of infrastructure projects also feature within the planning application with a reconfiguration of the car parks, and a change of use for the St Leonards Farm to be used for back of house facilities also planned.
Are you pleased to see these plans given the support of The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council? Make sure you share your thoughts over on the Attraction Source Forum. As we get more details of each of the eight developments, Attraction Source will be sure to bring you all the latest news.
