From pit to theme park full of Eastern promise

All that could change, however, with the arrival of the multi-million-pound Visions of China “cultural theme park”, which developers say will be the “pride of Yorkshire”.

Yesterday, bosses at Rotherham Council selected the £110m development as the preferred option for the Pithouse West colliery site, which lies adjacent to Rother Valley Country Park, close to junction 31 of the M1 motorway.

Visitors to Visions of China would enter the theme park in a Chinatown-themed street, based on “one of the most vibrant streets in Shanghai”.

They could then sample the luxury of an Oriental spa, restaurants, a traditional tea house, a Chinese hotel and an “enchanting” children’s area, all set around 15 acres of lakes and Suzhou gardens.

The development, described as being as iconic as the Eden Project in Cornwall, is intended to attract both national and international visitors to the region.

Visions of China will create 400 permanent, non-seasonal jobs and will take two years to build once construction work gets under way.

The consortium behind the ambitious development includes Peter Moore, who was awarded an OBE in 1996 for services to the tourism industry, businessman Dr Lee Kaihung and leisure company MCD Developments.

He became the managing director of Centre Parcs after rebranding Alton Towers as the marketing director, and currently runs his own consultancy, Brightaspect.

Mr Moore said yesterday: “This will be a theme park, but a cultural theme park, and a major day visitor destination for Yorkshire.

“There will be no pastiche, no fakery. Everything will be authentic and it will really be a place of enchantment.

“Visions of China will introduce visitors to the culture of one of the most pre-eminent civilisations and one of the super powers of the world stage.

“It will be one of the most original developments to be created in Britain for decades and will showcase enchantment, entertainment and excitement – everything that is mysterious about China.

“We’ve got authenticity, we’ve got quality and we’ve got a mix of offer that will create a destination for the people of Britain and visitors from abroad.”

Visions of China will be aimed at a broad market, with a “Dragon’s Den” area for children, complete with “incredible visuals” and rides, as well as more adult-oriented attractions such as the spa.

It is also hoped that the hotel will attract Chinese weddings and host conferences for business people from all over the country.

The land for the development has been owned by Rotherham Council for the past decade and was the proposed site of the failed £350m Yes! leisure development, which was intended to be the largest undercover leisure-based scheme in Europe. That project was axed in January this year after a series of long delays.

Visions of China is bidding for £5.7m from the Regional Growth Fund. Around £950m will be available for projects that can create private sector jobs but it is heavily oversubscribed, with some 500 bids worth a total of £3bn having been submitted. The Government is due to make a decision on which will receiving funding later this year.

The leader of Rotherham Council, Roger Stone, yesterday welcomed the selection of leisure organisation China Vision Ltd and regeneration specialist MCD Developments as the preferred bidder for the former colliery site.

He said: “This is a prestigious project which will create hundreds of new jobs and bring in many thousands of visitors.

“This site has great potential and this proposal offers an exciting, unique and imaginative new attraction which meets our local regeneration aspirations and the desire of the region to increase the numbers of visitors from across the world heading to Yorkshire.”

After terminating the agreement with those behind Yes! in January, Rotherham Council’s strategic director of the environment development service, Karl Battersby, said it had “not progressed as we would have wished”.

He added: “However, our intentions have not changed, and we are still of the view that the site has massive potential.”

The authority then put the 135-hectare site up for sale and advertised it as a “landmark leisure/tourism development opportunity”.

Mr Moore said those behind Visions of China selected Pithouse West due to its excellent accessibility next to the M1 and closeness to the beauty of Rother Valley country park.

He added: “Visions of China will have national appeal and be the pride of Yorkshire.”