Graeme Cassidy wrote:1) How much car parking space do you suggest the park keeps, if any at all? If you are suggesting the park carries on with half its space, would that mean the Scenic Railway and everything on the Frisbee side of it, leaving visitors to use general Margate car parks?:)
A similar area of car parking to that existing today could be retained, to be shared by Dreamland and the new attractions. If a supermarket or leisure complex were to be built there, it would need its own parking. There may also be the potential for car parking as part of the new development. Remember, there is a huge car park on the opposite side of Dreamland, part of that shopping arcade/tower block complex.
Graeme Cassidy wrote:2) If the campaign is successful, the only ride Jimmy Godden is obliged to leave is the Scenic Railway. He could sell on his funfair type rides to numerous different showmen/amusement park operators, or in a package deal to the new buyer. Would there be room for new, permanent attractions along the lines of the ones Dreamland once had? Or do you think it will be enough to have the Scenic Railway as the main coaster, supported by rides similar to those there now (eg. Frisbee, Seastorm)?
It would still be a sizeable park, so I think that there would be room for some permanent attractions. I always give Southend's Adventure Island as an example of best practice - they have managed to fit a mixture of portable and permanent rides into a similar space.
The Local Plan for Margate is, however, much stricter than this. We at the Save Dreamland Campaign are being very relaxed about our plans for the future of the site. If you go to the Save Dreamland FAQ page (
http://www.joylandbooks.com/scenicrailway/faq.htm#What), you will see that the council will only allow "limited" redevelopment of the site, and are now looking to strengthen that. It might, therefore, not be necessary to lose 50% of the site.
Reading the Local Plan, it makes you wonder whether one half of the council is talking to the other half, and which half is talking to Mr Godden!
Nick