Joyland Books

I was readind through the Thanet Times today when I noticed a massive section on page 5 about Dreamland with the title "Top-secret talks about furture of Fun Park". Personally I found it interesting because they explain everything detailed enough but not in terms that people won't understand unlike some of the documents I've read about Dreamland on the Thanet DC website what didn't quite get me right. Well anyone interested in a read then go read it.

Ian

Ian,

Any chance of a brief summary of the article (or a link to a scan) for those of us outside the area?

Cheers

Well i'm currently trying to get the scanner working but if I can't then I will write out the main points of it all for you

The article has been emailed to Nick and im sure will be on the website shortly

Can we have an update please?

If Nick is too busy can we have RowBot's summary?

Vince.

Here's the full article:

Top-Secret Talks About Future of Fun Park

Dreamland owners have held secret meetings with Thanet council to discuss the funfair site's future - with less than half of the park earmarked for "leisure facilities".
Representatives of Waterbridge, the company which has a majority stake in the site, showed council top brass their plans last Wednesday.
Waterbridge director Toby Hunter said the meeting had been "very good".
He added: "This is the start of a very long journey to collectively bring something very special to Margate. It is too early to be going into detail."
The site is currently owned by Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company - a combination of Margate Development, which has a 60 per cent share, and businessman Jimmy Godden who has the other 40 per cent.
Margate Development is owned by Mr Hunter, the major share holder in Newbury-based firm Waterbridge. Thanet council corporate director John Bunnett said the discussions were positive.
He said: "Because I don't want to prejudice future negotiations by releasing commercially sensitive information, I can only confirm that 40 per cent of the land will be for leisure facilities
"All I can say is there will be a major leisure attraction there. It is a difficult site to develop because Arlington House and Dreamland are owned by different companies." Save Dreamland Campaign leader Nick Laister said he was cautiously optimistic.
"If leisure means tourists and it means keeping the scenic railway then it sounds like good news," he said. "But leisure is a broad word and if it means a new swimming pool or a casino than that wouldn't attract tourists. I am still confident a theme park operator can be found for the site."
Travelling showman Harry Ayers took over the site this summer.
Government planning inspectors are due to return their findings on the future of Dreamland to Thanet council at the end of October. They have already approved the building of 1,000 homes in Westwood and a further 100 in Minster.

Huge thanks to Sarah for troubling to do this for us!

Personally I don't like the sound of it. In my opinion, you need the whole park as a theme park if it's going to draw visitors. Anything less might get them in once, but the only reason I am here is because the park as it was in the Bemboms days made me want to come back.

I didn't get brave enough to go on the Looping Star until the second time I visited!

Vince.

It seems a very vague statement to me- repeatedly declining to go into any kind of detail means that it's hard to form any firm conclusion.

I think it is inevitable that the park will shrink in size, although it is essential that the Scenic Railway remains, within a park large enough to contain enough rides so that the SR does not become a "stand-alone" attraction.

I guess the waiting game goes on.................


Vince

By the way, I was misquoted in that article. I didn't actually describe it as "good news". I don't know whether it is good news or bad news yet. We will just have to wait and see. And the final Inspector's Report is expected befoe the end of this month, which will be very interesting.

Nick

Sorry I didn't reply been very ill lately with massive pains in my side. But thanks sarah nick for posting the article

Hello all,

I also do not like the 40% area occupation for the new "leisure" attraction. I know there may need to be some compromise reached to sustain a theme park attraction but I really hope that the whole current site can be used again as good parks always need new growth areas.

After the closure of Battersea Funfair I believe the only remaining fixed ride, the Water Chute (which later went to Dreamland) was used as a solitary attraction for a couple of years or so. I moved from Battersea in 1976 and sadly never took much notice after this park closed in 1974. Like Vince though I do not imagine that any stand alone ride could sustain itself properly. I too hope that many new additional attractions can be built on the site to complement the Scenic Railway.

Let's hope the final inspector's report brings favourable news.

Martin

I hope the Inspector's report blows them out of the water and says the existing space designated as Dreamland stays as an amusement park, and nothing else.

Vince.

I will be disappointed if only 40% of the site will be retained for leisure purposes. That is approximately how much of the site that has been in use for the past couple of seasons.

This is the sort of compromise that I thought would be the result in order to try and keep all parties happy.

I just feel that any attempt to carve up the park would mean that there is no scope left for Dreamland to operate as a major theme park again and would result in it just being a collection of small fairground attractions as it was this year.

Oh well, it is far from final yet and so we will have to wait and see.

I know it's a can of worms but I personally think we have to face facts.

Margate in 2005 is not the same as Margate in 1925 or 1955. The World has changed, and we will never return to the days when charabancs queued from the Birchington roundabout to get into Margate on a saturday morning. That scene happens at Palma airport nowadays.

We have to ensure that the Scenic Railway survives, along with sufficient other fun park attractions to make the place viable. We have to ensure that the Scenic Railway- and the surrounding funfair area- is transferred into our control and placed beyond further threat. For ever.

If a compromise can be reached which would allow this to happen, then I personally would support it. The Scenic Railway is part of Margate's history, and would massively benefit from an on-site museum showing the history of Dreamland down the ages for riders to view while waiting for their train. We should make more of the Scenic Railway, rather than going for "maximum acreage"

I know that this will ruffle a few feathers, and it falls far short of my "ideal scenario" but I think we should all adopt a realistic attitude towards Margate, Dreamland and the Scenic Railway, even if this view does not propose re-creating an era which has now gone and will never return.

Just my thoughts!


Vince