A THEME park which closed down just days ago already looks like it has stood abandoned for years.
Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, shut its gates for the final time on Tuesday, March 5.
Many excited kids have wooshed down this twisting blue slide[/caption]
The roller coaster track have already been broken up[/caption]
It was the biggest theme park in Wales – and locals were distraught to see it go.
The park had been saved back in 2008 after £25million was put back into it – but that proved just a sticking plaster.
The owners blamed the government’s national insurance and minimum wage hikes for making it impossible to carry on.
And now, less than a week after shutting up, the park already looks like a ghost of its former self.
Haunting photos show the rides standing eerily empty and partially dismantled.
Once symbols of joy and excitement, the purposeless relics now serve only to remind locals of what they have lost.
The iconic pirate ship has run aground for the final time, and now sits with pieces of metal hanging off it.
Bright toy planes that once whizzed children through the air have been lined up and fenced off.
Broken sections of roller coaster track – the backbone of Oakwood – lie strewn around in the mud.
And the mini black taxi carts are still and without passengers.
Oakwood is the latest theme park to fold in recent months – with others around the country at risk.
Despite the park’s owners citing the UK government as the cause of its financial woes, locals have pointed to another hurdle barring the tourism and hospitality industry.
Some believe that the Welsh government’s proposed “tourist tax” is snuffing out the tourism trade – even before it takes effect.
They say that Oakwood’s closure is just the “tip of the iceberg” of the decline that is to come.
Oakwood was Wales’s largest them park before it closed for good on Tuesday[/caption]
This ride is left to rust amongst the trees[/caption]
The new levy, which could be introduced in Wales from 2027, would see visitors to the country paying a £1.25p per night tourism tax when they stay at hotels, B&Bs and self-catered accommodation.
A lower rate of 75p would be charged for hostels and campsites.
The Welsh government insists the money raised would help fund services in tourism hotspots, but critics say it will deter visitors.
Kevin Hart, who has been running a bar restaurant and caravan and camping site within walking distance of Oakwood for the past 18 years, is “dreading” the new tax.
An aerial view of the site[/caption]
Local bar and restaurant owners Kevin and Debbie Hart have blamed a new tourist tax for being behind the theme park’s decision to close[/caption]
Mr Hart, 66, runs the business – The Snooty Fox – with his wife, Debbie, and had been hoping to sell up and retire in a few years. Now he believes that dream is in tatters.
He told The Sun: “How am I going to be able to sell up and retire now when the Welsh and national governments are doing their level best to destroy what we’ve spent 18 years building up?
“I employ 10 people here and I’m already having to find extra money to pay for the rises in national insurance and minimum wage, not to mention inflation and energy costs going through the roof.
“And now the Welsh government expects people coming here to pay a tourism tax.
Another local, Jenny, 45, said: “Once this dreaded tourist tax comes in, I don’t think anyone in their right mind will want to come to Wales.
“It’s yet another tax, and at a time when everyone’s already feeling the squeeze caused by every other tax we pay, on top of inflation, soaring energy costs and, if you’re an employer, extra national insurance and another rise in the minimum wage.
“Oakwood going is the tip of the iceberg, I fear. In the years ahead, there’ll be nothing left here.”
Theme park closures in recent years
Leisure Island Fun Park – Canvey Island, Essex
Leisure Island Fun Park confirmed it would be shutting down after 20 years of operation in February, 2025.
It had undergone a refurbishment in 2021 and has not explained the reason behind its closure.
All of the rides and attractions have since been removed.
In a statement, it thanked the “3,000 staff members” who have worked there in the past two decades.
It added: “It’s so sad we have had to close the park but hopefully we have created loads of memories for the families that visited us.”
Flambards theme park – Cornwall
In November 2024, Flambards theme park in Cornwall also shut its doors.
Having opened in 1976, it became Flambards in 1990 after more rides were added, with the name coming from a popular TV drama.
It was saved from closure in 2012, only for it to close 12 years later.
In a statement, it said that “all possible avenues had been exhausted” in trying to keep it open, but cited rising costs as the issue.
Pleasure Island Family Theme Park – Lincolnshire
Pleasure Island Family Theme Park closed its doors in 2016 after falling visitor numbers.
Its rides and rollercoasters were distributed to various other theme parks across the globe, leaving empty spaces where they once stood.
Since its closure, a number of Urban Explorers have ventured onto the site.
And now, ghostly new images have emerged showing the once bustling tourist hotspot looking derelict nearly a decade after it shut.
Wet n Wild – North Shields
Wet n Wild was shut in September 2018 due to maintenance issues, with its reopening date repeatedly being pushed back.
It had struggled perpetually with visitor numbers.
It was a popular waterpark for families in the north east, however owners Serco were forced to close it down permanently in 2020 after years of financial difficulty.
