I don't think anyone is getting too excited here, which is of course sensible.
The park usually do things like this, and it can be for a variety of reasons:
1) It is good practice to keep these not used areas reasonably tidy so that they can be accessed when needs be
2) It gives the Landscaping team something to do to test out new equipment / train new staff with low pressure, or to give them something to do during quiet periods.
3) To test the land
We saw them go some tidying of the grassy areas by Loggers last year which of course meant naff all.
The fact this happened in June and so few people noticed when on park shows that this is not as noticeable or extreme as Google Maps suggest either.
Of course, if the park were to open a new coaster, that space is one of the most obvious spaces to go for. But at this stage, we don't know how far away that could be, so who knows.