Nearly £50,000 has been raised by green campaigners to combat plans to build a Disneyland-style theme park on a Kent wildlife site.

Large parcels of land on the Swanscombe Peninsula have been earmarked by developers for the £2.5 billion London Resort proposals.

If given the green light it would be one of Europe's largest leisure and hospitality attractions with more than 100 hectares of marshland – equivalent to 140 football pitches – set aside for rides, hotels, bars and other event spaces.

The developers behind the plans say it will boost the local economy and deliver thousands of new jobs, whilst enhancing biodiversity.

But nature groups have dismissed these claims and continue to rally against any disruption of the site recently designated a site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

The Planning Inspectorate is due to consider the proposal as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), a status normally reserved for major roads, airports or power plants.

Campaigners recently launched a crowdfunder to cover legal costs to fight the proposals planned between Dartford and Gravesend.

Thousands of people have pledged their support with an initial £10,000 fundraising target met in under 36 hours.

Nearly £50,000 has now been raised in under two weeks and group representatives say funds will be used to hire experts to read through the "complex" documentation.

Cllr Laura Edie, who helps run the Save Swanscombe Peninsula group, said the response had been "amazing" and had garnered both local and national interest.

The Green Party member said: "It just shows how much passion people have for protecting the site and it will really help because there is so much complexity with the Development Consent Order (DCO) process so now we will be able to afford the same financial support London Resort will have."

The SSSI status does not preclude the Swanscombe site from future development but it must be given "due weight" in planning decisions.

London Resort had objected to the notification by Natural England for a number of reasons, including "the robustness of the evidence base".

Under its proposals it claims a large proportion of the Peninsula landscape will remain "undeveloped and will be enhanced" with integrated local public rights of way and improved access to the river for visitors and local communities.

Swanscombe Development LLP, which owns a significant proportion of land within the SSSI, also objected on the basis the government nature adviser had "underestimated or disregarded the scale and cost of management".

But Cllr Edie said Natural England's decision to confirm the site's nature haven status had re-ignited local passion for the area.

She said the local campaign was not just focused on fighting the development plans but also putting forward an "alternative vision" for its future.

The environmental campaigner pointed across the Thames to the Rainham Marshes – an area also rich in birds, water voles and plant life – as a potential blueprint.

"We have a version of our own nature reserve that is going to boost the economy in another way," she added. "This is going to be what it can offer local people going forward."

Earlier this month developers behind the London Resort plans announced the opening date had been pushed back again to 2025.

Delays have been granted at the developer's request to address transport concerns and the area's new-found protected environmental status.

But there is now growing pressure from the Planning Inspectorate – the body tasked with deciding the fate of the venture – to justify continuing delays.

Criticisms have been repeatedly levelled at the developers for missing deadlines and "failing to engage" with local authorities and businesses.

Companies subject to controversial compulsory purchase powers on the surrounding business estates claim the development had "paralysed" their futures and likened it to "being on death row".

But the boss at the helm of the project, which has been dubbed the UK's answer to Disneyland, has vowed it will be built despite the "naysayers and doom-mongers".

Responding to the Planning Inspectorate, London Resort Chief PY Gerbeau explained that the project had been "bedevilled" by changing circumstances and "unknown unknowns".

He claimed Covid-19 and the SSSI designation had "materially impacted" on their ability to supply information in a "timely fashion".

The resort boss said: "We firmly believe that a final delay in the commencement of the examination of the application until June or July 2022 is both justified in the public interest and appropriate.

The French entrepreneur added there was a "wealth of justifications" for the project.

This included its ties to the Thames Estuary growth vision to connect projects in Kent to London by water via its "park and glide" proposals.

However, recent submissions to the Planning Inspectorate have asked for clarification as to whether its "construction hub" proposals within the Port of Tilbury are able to co-exist with the expansion of the docks driven by the new Freeport.

Earlier this month the resort boss told planners: "As outlined above, there are a wealth of justifications for the project.

"These include the significant role the project could play in the vision to 'Build Back Better', our plan for growth, our role as a catalyst for the continued success of the Thames Estuary Growth Board and recognition that will be instrumental in delivering at least £50bn of economic growth by 2039."