Universal has officially been given the green light to build their new theme park in the UK. The Special Development Order has been approved by the government, which allows major work to begin this month. But it does come with some stipulations, including milestones that must be hit before the park can open by 2031.

Let’s discuss all of the details of this special permit, as well as trademarked names for the resort, and more developments, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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SDO Approved

On December 16, 2025, a letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government confirmed that planning permission had been granted for the Universal’s entertainment resort complex (ERC) at Kempston Hardwick, Bedford.

This Special Development Order, or SDO, will allow the company to start building their site, which an official letter from the government says would include “theme park(s), visitor accommodation, retail, dining, sports and conference facilities and associated landscaping and utility infrastructure.”

Later that day Universal themselves released a statement, through the project’s official website, universalukproject.co.uk. In it they say:

“Today, I can share an important update on our plans to bring a new entertainment resort complex featuring a world-class theme park to Bedford… While there are still further steps to complete, including a statutory parliamentary review period, this decision represents another important milestone for the project.”

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Universal UK New Names

Now that they have been granted permission to build, the shell company that was used to purchase the land in Kempston Hardwick, which is owned by Universal’s parent company Comcast, has changed its name.

It was originally named the inconspicuous “SC COLLECTION LIMITED,” but will now be referred to as “UDX DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED.” “UDX” is the abbreviation for Universal Destinations & Experiences, which is the company’s parks division.

The company has also filed several new trade marks in the country, which may lend some insight into what the official name for this upcoming resort could be.

As of now, an official name for the resort and theme park has not yet been announced.

Applications have been filed with the Intellectual Property Office for the terms UNIVERSAL UNITED KINGDOM RESORT and UNIVERSAL UK RESORT. These terms are listed for use with theme parks and entertainment services, as well all types of products, including clothing, toys, housewares, and much more.

One more trade mark application, which has since been granted, is for the term UNIVERSAL STUDIOS GRAND HOTEL. As the name implies, this term was registered for use in hotel services.

This could be the name for the 500-room hotel which is planned to open with the new UK theme park. It is also the name of the attached hotel that had opened with Universal Studios Beijing.

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Statement of Reason

When the Special Development Order was granted in December, the UK government was essentially approving Universal’s planning documents.

You may remember the hundreds of planning documents that were uploaded publicly back in July 2025. Those plans were analyzed and scrutinized in the near six months that followed by the UK government and the Bedford Borough Council, as well as local residents, businesses, and public bodies.

According to a document published online, titled “statement of reasons for the grant of planning permission,” Bedford Borough Council, as well as other local bodies, were supportive of the proposal, which they regarded as “transformational for the local economy.”

Concerns from residents were raised in relation to potential congestion on the local roads, noise both during construction and later during theme park operation, and there were “many concerns about the visual impact of such a large, and potentially tall, development upon the local landscape.”

The document goes on to address these concerns—and many more—showing how these multiple bodies have worked together to carefully examine all of the concerns related to the project. The SDO includes extremely specific ways in which Universal will have to address these concerns while building and operating the new resort complex.

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SDO Permit Requirements

Essentially, everything that Universal proposed back in July, have become requirements they must now follow in order to open the new theme park.

For example, in the initial proposal Universal suggested that the theme park and resort could have up to 8.5 million visitors in its first year. So, the Special Development Order now requires them to build a theme park and resort which can hold up to 8.5 million visitors before they can officially open. That includes enough ride capacity, hotel rooms, parking, dining, and more that must accommodate that many people over the course of 12 months.

The SDO requires at least 500 hotel rooms to be available for grand opening of the resort to take place, another number that was present in the proposal.

To get around any requirements that must be met by the grand opening of the resort, Universal could technically open the park early if they call it a “soft opening.” Although, the order requires that a soft opening date be approved by the Secretary of State, and the resort must still meet some minimum requirements before they may apply for permission to soft open.

Operating hours restrictions listed in the SDO line up with Universal’s proposed hours, with an opening time no earlier than 7:00 AM and a closing time no later than 11:00 PM, except on special event nights.

As laid out in the plans, the theme park will be allowed to remain open later on up to 65 occasions per year, until 2:00 AM at the latest. This includes during seasonal events, like Halloween Horror Nights, which is not listed specifically by name in the SDO, as well as individual holidays, which are listed in the document. Holidays mentioned include Chinese new year, 5th November, the day of Diwali, and 25th or 31st of December.

The document says the resort is not allowed any more than 10 firework displays per year. This includes the 5 specific holidays mentioned, as well as up to 5 additional days. Fireworks must not take place outside of the Core Zone, which is where the main theme park, first hotel, and entry plaza dining area will be located.

There are no rules stating how many drone shows can take place at the resort, but similarly, they must be contained within the Core Zone only.

Other pyrotechnics, outside of fireworks displays are also restricted by the SDO, as well as laser effects. These types of effects are allowed any day of the year, and at any time during operating hours, as long as there is no light spill outside of the Core Zone. These effects must only operate in brief, intermittent bursts. This would be fine for special effects like the explosions utilized in Universal’s Waterworld stunt show, for example, as long as the light from it cannot be seen outside of the resort.

The proposed maximum height limits for structures within the theme park and resort areas have all been approved, including a max height for attraction elements, like roller coaster track, or 115 meters (377 feet).

Work cannot start on future phases of site development in the Lake Zone, the expansion space located north of the main theme park, until all planned roadways and connected pathways have been completed and are operating.

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Wixams Train Station

Among the requirements to be met before the theme park resort’s grand opening, the SDO mentions that the Wixams train station must be open to the public with scheduled rail services running.

Despite the requirement, an option to utilize temporary bus service as an alternative is also mentioned. This would give Universal a backup plan in case the train station is not ready due to reasons outside of their control.

The Wixams train station will be built on the east side of Universal’s property, which they call the East Gateway Zone.

Work started in 2024 on a previously planned two-platform station, with £28 million already spent, but construction was put on hold last July so a new larger, four-platform station could be designed instead.

The larger station will better serve the crowds planning to visit the upcoming theme park resort. The project was originally budgeted at £62 million total, but that amount will be reevaluated before it resumes construction.

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Construction Timeline

Looking at the property itself, land preparation had continued in recent months ahead of the project’s overall approval for major construction.

Thanks to recent views from Project Universal on YouTube we can see how the site looks ahead of major construction starting. Watch the video below for the latest.

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We can see some leftover bricks from the old brickworks factory that used to occupy a portion of the property, (below, in next image). Universal has suggested that they may incorporate some of these bricks into the new theme park resort in some way, as a way to pay respects to what had come before.

A work site support area has been set up for parking, heavy construction equipment, generators, and materials staging. All of this prep had been taking place while they awaited approvals for the theme park construction so they could possibly hit the ground running once approved.

The main site where the theme park will be built, named the Core Zone, has not seen any work as of yet. January 12th will be the date that the SDO takes effect, and work can begin here.

It is worth keeping in mind that there is a six week period where the order can be challenged, so it is possible that Universal may wait a few more weeks before starting any major works, just in case.

Looking at the official proposed timeline, which was released back in July of last year, we can see that we are in the middle of Phase 1a – Advanced Works. This was described as preparing the site, with things like security fences and security entry checkpoint, which are all in place now, as well as utility installations for temporary work site buildings and support structures.

The next phase, which is on schedule to begin first quarter of 2026, will include water drainage and land grading work for the theme park site itself, preparing it for construction later.

The latter half of this year will see utility pipe installations for the theme park areas and more.

The resort is still on target for a 2031 grand opening, at the latest.

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Theme Park Rumors

Despite Universal being tight-lipped about what types of properties and attractions the new theme park will open with, large media outlets like the BBC have not been shy on reporting rumors on the subject.

The BBC continues to report that they expect attractions based on James Bond, Paddington, and The Lord of the Rings to be included in theme park when it opens in 5 or so years.

The Sun recently reported that the new park will contain Harry Potter themed attractions, despite early rumors that the park will not feature any. The officially released concept art does not seem to include any Harry Potter related iconography, but reporting by The Sun seems to suggest that this would have been a recent contract negotiation for the rights. This could explain its earlier omission from the key art, (if this ends up being true).

Rumors among theme park fan sites and forums continue to suggest that while some properties we see represented in Orlando and other Universal Studios theme parks around the world will be present at the UK park, the rides within those themed lands may end up being original.

For example, what fans believe look to be areas based on Jurassic World and Minions are visible in the official concept art, but perhaps the attractions contained within the buildings will be original to this park.

Attractions based on Back to the Future, JAWS, as well as the classic Waterworld stunt show appear to be represented in the art as well, at least according to fan theories that is.

Many are wondering if we will see an updated version of the official concept art in the coming weeks, now that the project has been officially approved and major work is set to begin.

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We will continue to update you on major milestones as they happen in the coming years, so stay tuned, and enter your email below to never miss an update. For a full breakdown of Universal’s detailed theme park proposal see our last story on the topic.

Check out the video version of this story for additional visuals.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Official Art: Universal Destinations & Experiences | Official Documents: gov.uk | Graphics and Overlays: Alicia Stella | Other Images as Captioned

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