The plans to transform the old dryslope at Beckton Alps into London SnowWorld floundered back in 2003, leaving an indoor slope half complete within the M25. The last news on SnowWorld we posted was back in 2004, but we had an email from somebody close to the project today who offered to fill us in on what happened.

Our source, who wishes to remain anonymous, says:

The site was contaminated, which required all the operatives to wear full body hazard suits. This made things far slower and far more expensive. Whilst it was known that the site was heavily contaminated (former gas works slag heap so crystalline cyanide etc!) the client severely underestimated the cost and time involved.

Just because there was already a slope there doesn’t make it any easier to build another above it. Serious schoolboy error. Building it on a slope (especially one made of sh*t) probably added a million quid.

There were lots of other serial errors on the job, but the client was too over confident to listen to professional advice.

The budget for the whole scheme was wholly inadequate. Advisers kept telling the developer and he just wouldn’t listen. His Swiss investment partners did however and pulled out.

Once the equity investors pulled out the banks wouldn’t provide the development finance so game over player one!

Funnily, the majority of the tough work was completed, with all the piling and substructure mainly in place.

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