The London Resort, backed by Kuwaiti investor Abdulla Al Humaidi[1], collapsed in 2023 after years of stalled progress, failed funding rounds and the loss of key environmental approvals.[2][3] The project, once described as “Dartford’s Disneyland”, it consumed millions in public funds including a £5 million government grant.[4] Today, many of the same individuals involved in the failed resort are now driving the Northfleet Harbourside Development, also in Kent.[5]
In 2022, I withdrew my support for the London Resort.[6] It was a decision I didn’t take lightly. I’d backed the project for ten years because like so many others in our community, I believed the promises.
We were told it would bring over 25,000 jobs to the area, that it would be a catalyst for regeneration, for investment, for opportunity.[7] And for a long time, I hoped that would be true.
But after a decade of delays and missed deadlines, it was clear nothing was going to materialise. That’s when I knew I had to speak out.
What happened with the London Resort wasn’t just a failed planning application. It had real consequences for real people. Local businesses invested time, money and resources to prepare for the opportunities we were told were coming. Apprentices were taken on, staff were hired, plans were made. All of it was left hanging in the air.
I had regular dealings with Abdulla Al-Humaidi and his associates. I wanted to see the project succeed, and I pushed for it to do so. But meeting after meeting, there was very little to show for it. Eventually, when key figures began leaving the project[8] progress stalled completely.
The longer it dragged on, the clearer it became that the London Resort Company Holdings was no longer focused on delivering a theme park. It seemed more about protecting land value than creating local opportunity. And it was obvious that the people who actually lived here – the people who believed in the project – were being ignored.
Now, with LRCH dissolved and Mr Al-Humaidi declared bankrupt in the UK[9], you’d think that chapter was closed. But it’s not. The same people are now involved in the Northfleet Harbourside scheme.[10] Through his family’s involvement with Ebbsfleet United Football Club[11], and Landmarque Property Group[12], Mr Al-Humaidi is once again linked to a development that would reshape our community.
And once again, there are serious concerns. Dartford and Gravesham Borough Councils, Swanscombe Town Council, National Grid, and the local Chamber of Commerce have all raised objections.[13] The government has now called in the scheme, and the developers have already been forced into revising parts of it.[14]
We’ve seen this play out before. The same promises. The same assurances. The same glossy images of what could be.
But before a single spade goes into the ground, and before any more jobs and businesses are concreted over, we need to ask whether this scheme is really in the interests of local people. Regeneration is desperately needed in our area, but we don’t need another false
start.
I want to see opportunity, but it must come from people we can trust to deliver it, not the same individuals who let us down so badly last time.
The London Resort was a disaster. We must not let history repeat itself.
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1 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/12/23/kuwaiti-businessman-dartford-ebbsfleet-united-
bankrupt/
2 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/12/23/kuwaiti-businessman-dartford-ebbsfleet-united-
bankrupt/
3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7g032m0m0o
4 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/02/23/taxpayer-loses-5m-on-dartford-disneyland-disaster/
5 https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025/06/12/ebbsfleet-united-football-minnows-bound-to-
controversial-kuwaiti-owners-hit-rock-bottom/
6 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-60766280
7 https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/enough-is-enough-mp-ditches-support-for-london-resort-
264070/
8 https://www.standard.co.uk/business/london-resort-py-gerbeau-steve-norris-b1049190.html
9 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/12/23/kuwaiti-businessman-dartford-ebbsfleet-united-
bankrupt/
10 https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025/06/12/ebbsfleet-united-football-minnows-bound-to-
controversial-kuwaiti-owners-hit-rock-bottom/
11 https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00412018/officers
12 https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025/06/12/ebbsfleet-united-football-minnows-bound-to-
controversial-kuwaiti-owners-hit-rock-bottom/
13 https://gateleyhamer-pi.com/en-gb/northfleet-harbourside/inquiry-documents/documents-during/
14 https://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/planning-inquiry-begins-into-controversial-40m-
waterfront-324609/
Project dubbed “Dartford’s Disneyland” was a disaster, we must not repeat the same mistakes
