Paultons Park

[CJH]

It's bad, but at the end of the day Paultons should have applied for permission!

[maguire245]

[quote=""Diogoj42""]Oh for smegs sake! will these killjoys just STOP WHINGING![/quote]
My surname isn't Roper, but you my son arn't the one who will face the increasing noise levels. You have to draw the line somewhere, especially as it hasn't always been a themepark, unlike alton.

Plus planning permission is essential and gives the owners a good name for themselves, I'm not too sure what the owners of this park were thinking

[DiogoJ42]

How can they have built something with out planning permission anyway? You only have to think about putting a conservatory on the back of your house to have the council at your door. If they didn't get permission, then surely the council would have stopped them as soon as the first publicity came out?

[maguire245]

[quote=""Diogoj42""]How can they have built something with out planning permission anyway? You only have to think about putting a conservatory on the back of your house to have the council at your door. If they didn't get permission, then surely the council would have stopped them as soon as the first publicity came out?[/quote]

Your theory is no excuse as for what has happened. There has been some quick rational thinking about what to do here and I do not think it is very clever by the management.

It's not the councils job to chase every single person who doesn't apply for permission, people should know better and apply for it before hand.

I also don't see why they should be allowed to get away with it, when thousands of other people struggle for very long periods of time with this sort of thing. It is called planning permission for a reason. Make sure you have thought things through, instead of making profit at another persons expense!

[DiogoJ42]

[quote=""maguire245""] It's not the councils job to chase every single person who doesn't apply for permission[/quote] Erm, yes it is.

You seem to have some inner anger over this issue. May I ask why?

[Gloomy Dude]

Does this mean that everyone who has ridden The Edge or Cobra is a filthy, rotten criminal!!!

You will all be hunted down, and face justice. You have been warned. :P

[FallenAbyss]

Unfortunately (well depending on how you look at it ...) you can't just build a rollercoaster or any such attraction without putting in the necescary planning measures which help keep the locals happy and without doing so is just purely asking for trouble.

Alton Towers go to great lengths to make sure that everything they do is above board and jump through whatever hoops they have to to satisfy local councils and parishes so why should it be different for any other park.

I hope the rides don't get taken down but I'm surprised that a park wouldn't put in planning permission for attractions as large as these ones. You could argue that it may be an oversight on Paulton's part but on two major attractions ?? That's a huge oversight and a little unrealistic I think.

[Coaster Neil]

You don’t need permission if land’s been used as an amusement park for more than 10 years?

All they needed to do was stick a bouncy castle on the land ten years ago and it would have become a designated amusement park. What about tramoplines? Can your house become an amusement park?
'Mr Wilson, what's this B+M doing in your back guarden'
'Why officer, it's an amusement park'
'Ah yes, Wilson World. Can never be too sure these days'

Something like this happened at Crealy.
http://www.crealy.co.uk/NewsViewer.aspx ... D=384&src=
Going slightly (well, very) off topic, their Halloween attraction looks very good. Surprised there’s 18+ attractions as I think Crealy’s normally a kids park, but good to see them stepping things up. Not sure if this is the first time or if it’s a regular fixture. Hopefully it’ll be a success, although I doubt I’ll make it.
http://www.hallowscream.co.uk/

These are fun rides, but I can sympathise with the locals. It might well be a genuine mistake, but you can understand people being annoyed. I expect that overall most people want the park to be successful as it does contribute to the local economy. Nonetheless, if there is resentment it’s probably best to try and address it now, rather than allowing it to build up. Maybe Paulton’s could run there own consultation with locals to gauge public feelings.

[seanyboyuk]

Very silly thing for the park to do imo. They will get the permission i think but the council will be on their tails for years to come because of this.

[Khanage]

[quote=""Neil""]
Going slightly (well, very) off topic, their Halloween attraction looks very good. Surprised there’s 18+ attractions as I think Crealy’s normally a kids park, but good to see them stepping things up. Not sure if this is the first time or if it’s a regular fixture. Hopefully it’ll be a success, although I doubt I’ll make it.
http://www.hallowscream.co.uk/[/quote]

Wow! Very cool.

Now back on topic! This is a very big oversight by park management but Cobra has been there for 3 years and nothing was said! It will be a shame if local residents start to appeal against any planning application, which undoubtedly they probably will, and also make it very hard for the park to get anything new in the future now this is out of the woodwork.

[furie]

Planning permission was taken on the rides, but somebody somewhere missed the fact the land was on "Country Park" designated land, not "Leisure" designated land.

SO now the council have asked them to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate and a Change of Use application for the land from Country Park to Amusement Park.

Somebody has screwed up, but whether it's at Paultons or the council, I don't know.

Press Statement 10th August 2009

Paultons Park is a Family Theme Park. It is one of the Premier visitor attractions in Southern England receiving around 500,000 visitors annually. Approximately 500 people are employed at the Park and we trade with many local businesses adding several million pounds annually into the local economy.

Paultons Park has lodged three planning applications with the New Forest National Park Authority.

1.A New building to house an indoor play area.
2.Lawful Development Certificate for the existing use of an Amusement Park.
3.Proposed change of use of an area of land from a Country Park to an Amusement Park and retention of Cobra and Edge rides.

New Building

It is proposed that a new building will be erected to house an indoor play area at the Park. This will complement the outside activities at the Park during periods of unsettled weather and also during the colder months of the year.

Lawful Development Certificate for the existing use of an Amusement Park.

The council has invited Paultons Park to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate to regularise the planning situation of the Park. This application covers the area of the Park open to visitors since 1983.

Change of Use of land from a Country Park to an Amusement Park and retention of Cobra and Edge Rides

This application deals with the area where the Edge and Cobra rides sit. It is proposed to regularise this site as an extension to the Amusement Park area. Although contained within the permitted 1981 Country Park area it has been used for less than 10 years as an Amusement Park and therefore requires a separate application.

These applications are currently being considered by the council and we are waiting for comments from them once the statutory consultation period ends.

Paultons Park has been open to visitors for 26 years and has evolved and changed in that time into a nationally recognised Family Theme Park.

Our roots as a family attraction have always been the same, to provide a great value family day out. These aims are not about to change; we will continue to remain focused on providing a first class family attraction.

[PP rider ss]

The Planning meeting was today and Paultons got 2 out of the 3 proposals they put forward.

1) Certificate of Lawfull development - Granted - which means main area of the park is now classed as an amusment park.

2) EDGE and Cobra site - turned down - park did not gain permission for these two rides in the separate application.

3) New building - Granted

[ThrillJunkie]

So does this mean if they don't appeal or if this is turned down again they will have to remove both Edge and Cobra? This would be a terrible shame as these 2 rides really make the park as good as it is. They are the only reasons i took a trip down there earlier this year.

I'm going to HallowScream this year . 2008 was the first year they done this event and it's back for 2009 supposedly bigger than last year.

[Dara]

Unfortunately it does mean this, yes. And HallowScream? What's that? I didn't know Paultons did any special events apart from obviously the hugely popular christmas event.

[DiogoJ42]

This is really bad news. Cobra is a lovely coaster, and to have to remove it because of something so petty would ruin the park.

[AstroDan]

What dire news. In times of economic crisis this is ridiculous.

[Simon]

The problem is, of course, that Paulton's lies just the wrong side of the National Park boundary, meaning it has to submit planning applications to the NPA, which has much stricter planning regulations and committees than regular local authorities.

Sad times. I hope they can argue their case, it would be a blow to Paulton's and - to be fair - to the local economy if they have to sell their two headline attractions.

[Sam]

We should all be up in arms about this. The UK theme park industry, outside Merlin, seems to be in a very dire situation at the moment. It's no secret that many, many smaller parks, such as Lightwater, are struggling just to stay afloat. Oakwood hasn't added ANYTHING new for 4 years, while raising gate prices. Blackpool haven't added anything major except a relocated SLC in the past 8 years. Drayton just don't have the ride investment capability to keep up.

Paulton's Park is one of very few smaller parks (the other being Flamigoland) which looks like it has a promising future ahead of it. These two rides are absolutely vital, and could make or break the park. I would have thought the decline of yet another smaller park would be very unhealthy in terms of competition, and the local authorities should take that into account when ruling on petty things like this.

I've long thought the same about the absolutely ludicrous height and noise restrictions. Alton's I can understand but I don't see any reason why Thorpe or most of the other parks should have any type of height restriction at all unless they're in a natural beauty area (Thorpe certainly is not, with the M25 and Heathrow).

Who can we contact to register our complaints about this? Who is responsible for the decision, and how can we get their contact details to register our protest?

[DiogoJ42]

Couldn't have put it better myself, Sam.

[Bote]

I only have one thing to say to those are living near it. MOVE! If you don't like the noise you can clear off. And I don't care if you were there first, if Paulton's didn't exist you'd all winge that there is nothing to draw people to the area (as many are now saying about AA).