Is the Scenic Railway ever going to be re-built?

[Vince, Charlie and Sam]

I suppose this is the ultimate taboo question but is the Scenic Railway ever going to be re-built?

We have been promised it would be re-built ever since the day it burnt down. To me, it looks like it is just not going to happen.

Is all of the lottery money allocated to the Save Dreamland Campaign going to go to Stuffed Suits on inflated salaries who don't know one end of a saw from the other, or is there any chance that re-building might actually go ahead in the forseeable future?

[AJ]

The question had to be asked at some point Vince.

It does feel like the Scenic is slipping away. At the start if the year there was talk about the tenders being submitted for the rebuild and then nothing but deathly silence.

[aweber2us]

Its great to see that it is now Grade 2* but the old girl does need to see some action. I guess after the fire and the 30% that has to be renewed every year all that is left is now only good for a template.In my eyes all we will ever get is a replica Scenic which is a real shame.

[vince69619]

By definition, if 30% needs replacing every year, what we have had for the last 20 years is a reproduction!

Have faith. The campaign has been running for a long time and we are almost home in my opinion.

Vince.

[vann98]

Its true that the campaign is certainly getting somewhere. The cinema is proof of this and I do believe that A scenic railway will rise again soon.

Its no lie however that the Scenic that we know today is mainly just a shell and an outline of what was once there. I mean we are talking about three years without any wood replacement or maintenance. This must mean that the structure has deteriorated too much over time and just would not be allowed by health and safety standards if it were to reopen.

When the Scenic burnt down before, they managed to rebuilt it fairly quickly by the sound of it. I think the problem this time, is that we have left it a bit too late to salvage any of the remaining structure. As it was said before it is mainly just a template.

[AJ]

I think we have to be careful on how we put it, saying its currently just a template could fuel opposition with regards to its listed status.

[kevin]

Brighton West Pier was Grade 1 listed and had funding in place to restore it but English Heritage withdrew this after some low lives burnt down the pavilion on the basis that there was not enough of the original structure left, so applying that level of thinking, no, the Scenic Railway should not be restored! English Heritage slightly moved the goalposts when it came to the Cutty Sark however, even though it suffered greater loss than the West Pier.

Apart from that, why is public money being used to restore the Scenic Railway anyway? What happened to the insurance money from the fire?

[reggie]

Even though much of the Scenic will be a replacement compared to the original Scenic, the thing is that it will still be on the same template and in the same place and will probably give the same quality of ride.

For all these reasons it is in my opinion well worth rebuilding and the sooner the better.

[Jim Douglas Jr.]

This stuff all takes time.

Who do you think does all this? The Smurfs? Jesus? The Pet Shop Boys?

[AJ]

We understand it all takes time but a bit of info on the state of play would help. It seems we get told things then it goes very quiet for a long time. As I said at the start of the year there was talk of the tenders being submitted for the rebuild due in the spring. We are now at the back end of summer and still no news. I'm not expecting the Scenic to suddenly reappear but a bit of info on whether the tendering process has taken place or not and what kind of timescale is now on the cards.

This CPO has really thrown a curve ball delaying the whole project. There was also an issue regarding the time frame in which grants had to be used or lost, where is the project in regards to that?

It's been a long 8 years with a lot of frustration but the people keeping this project/campaign rolling have done a great job and have given up a lot of time for the cause which is appreciated.

[vince69619]

I did read that we can expect things to go quiet whilst the CPO is going through. I expect that careless conversations could upset the apple cart, so no gossip is better than damaging gossip.

Vince.

[Nick]

There are two main reasons for the delay with the start of work on the Scenic Railway. The first is the CPO and the second is the timing of the Heritage Lottery funding which we hope will pay for the works. And the CPO affects the latter. We are unfortunately having to wait longer than we had hoped, which is very frustrating, and it is completely out of our hands.

On a positive note, this delay is giving us time to work on the costings for the Scenic Railway so we can be sure we have the best possible approach to this job when the CPO is resolved And we are still on target for a 2013 opening.

[AJ]

Cheers for the reply Nick.

[porterm]

Hi all

I think, despite the lengthy time factor, we all have to keep the faith and believe, after all the hurdles we've encountered so far that Dreamland will rise again.

I can imagine it must be even harder for local resident supporters to sometimes keep believing as they must see the sad sight of a burnt out Scenic Railway day in and day out.

I was very inspired yesterday as I went back to my original amusement park site at Battersea Park for a foodie festival. I couldn't help but outline in my mind where the park's main attractions once majestically stood. It's now just a tarmac covered area but the main former park entrances can still be made out.

After my nostalgic visit I went back to Clapham Junction to review a few other former haunts. I was staggered to witness my old "Granada 1*2*3" cinema still standing and under a dramatic transformation, including an apartment block to its rear. They had a schematic plan of the building's interior which depicted a single vast internal seated theatre-style area. It appears that a new cinema/concert/theatre type facility is indeed to reopen. I can only assume this building must have been listed or something as I expected to see it demolished. I'll post some photos I took if anyone's interested, but it gave me enthusiasm for our project, including the Dreamland Cinema revitalisation.

Martin

[Greg Pryce]

Hi Martin,
yes, do post pictures, especially of the Battersea Park area, unfortunately I never got to go to that Amusement park and have to make do with You Tube clips and the usual old Films
All the Best,
Greg