Dreamland, Amusment park or not?

[Richie C]

Just heard on the radio (KM FM) that TDC have decided to ignore the inspectors report. A TDC spokesman said Dreamland is not viable as a traditional amusment park but the site will be used for lesure purposes in which the Scenic Railway will be a big part of. TDC must have a screw loose, all they have to do is look at the state of Margate scince the decline of Dreamland to see what a huge part Dreamland plays. Can anybody shed more light on this?

[cliffc]

[quote="Richie C"]Just heard on the radio (KM FM) that TDC have decided to ignore the inspectors report. A TDC spokesman said Dreamland is not viable as a traditional amusment park but the site will be used for lesure purposes in which the Scenic Railway will be a big part of. TDC must have a screw loose, all they have to do is look at the state of Margate scince the decline of Dreamland to see what a huge part Dreamland plays. Can anybody shed more light on this?[/quote]

Hi

Well I am hopeing that this is not the case as the things i have spoken about in other recent posts will come true in Margate, and I think that the campaigin have proven that its not the case thats its not viable as an amusement park, the inspector must have agreed this and also Phillp Miller would not be willing to put the the sort of investment sums that have been mentioned here in the past if he did not think he had any way of recooping that sort of cash, so if he beleves in Margate and Dreamland it beggers beleief that the TDC would still think it cannot make money, I would agree that the way its currently being run ( i use that phrase very very loosly) it wont make money, but in the hands of Phillip Miller it most certinaly will.

CLiff C

[Richie C]

Did anybody else hear this report? It was on KM FM's 6 o'clock news.

[Sarah]

Nope, missed it. It wasn't on their 7 o'clock news (maybe they do longer news at midday and 6pm) and doesn't appear on their web site either. If you hear it again Richie let me know, if not I will call them on Monday and get a transcript of the report.

Sarah

[Bob]

Just heard on the radio (KM FM) that TDC have decided to ignore the inspectors report. A TDC spokesman said Dreamland is not viable as a traditional amusment park but the site will be used for lesure purposes in which the Scenic Railway will be a big part of. TDC must have a screw loose, all they have to do is look at the state of Margate scince the decline of Dreamland to see what a huge part Dreamland plays. Can anybody shed more light on this?

Well I have to agree. In its current format Dreamland is not viable. TDC's proposals are for a mixture of retail, leisure & amusement park. The intial indications are that thi mix will be viable.

To date there have been no takers for running Dreamland as a pure amusement park.

[Nick]

To date there have been no takers for running Dreamland as a pure amusement park.

Can you remind me when and where the site was marketed to operators as an amusement park? That one must have passed me by!

I know more than one operator that would be willing to buy the site (not the business) at full, independently assessed market value as an amusement park. I know most of the major UK park operators, and to the best of my knowledge, they have not been approached. Perhaps you could enlighten me!

Nick

[Gary]

I thought the council were not going to discuss the report until January??

[Bob]

To date there have been no takers for running Dreamland as a pure amusement park.

Can you remind me when and where the site was marketed to operators as an amusement park? That one must have passed me by!

I know more than one operator that would be willing to buy the site (not the business) at full, independently assessed market value as an amusement park. I know most of the major UK park operators, and to the best of my knowledge, they have not been approached. Perhaps you could enlighten me!

Nick

I know of plenty of people that would buy the Land.

I thought you were campaigning to keep it open as an Amusement Park Business but you appear to be happy to have the land sold off. There are no end of people that would be prepared to buy a prime site at a knock down rate.

So you are now saying that you do not have anyone that is prepared to run the site as an amusement park ? Just someone that wants to buy the land on a speculative basis. Very Interesting

[cliffc]

Hi all

Ho look its Jimm er sorry Bob here again, well from what I have read there is at least one operator, who has made an offer to buy the land and turn it into and amusement park, one that is not run down but one that is has been built up from scratch based round the senic, the reason that there have been no buyers is no doubt due to the fact the the current owners will not sell the land at a relistic price, and not because thay dont want to buy it.

Cliff C

[Nick]

I know of plenty of people that would buy the Land.

I thought you were campaigning to keep it open as an Amusement Park Business but you appear to be happy to have the land sold off. There are no end of people that would be prepared to buy a prime site at a knock down rate.

So you are now saying that you do not have anyone that is prepared to run the site as an amusement park ? Just someone that wants to buy the land on a speculative basis. Very Interesting

Wrong. I am not saying that at all.

All the operators I referred to in my previous post would run the site as an amusement park. They would not be buying the land speculatively (and, of course, buying the site speculatively at the moment would be foolish as we have just had an inspector's report stating that it must remain an amusement park!)

My comment about the business is that I cannot imagine any operators would actually want to buy the 'Dreamland Leisure' business (that is, if the business still exists). I certainly wouldn't. And given the damage that has been done to the site by the previous owner, they would be effectively starting from scratch (other than the Scenic Railway). Luckily, the operators I am talking to would have no problem with developing a new amusement park on the site.

And don't forget, Bob, a local plan is a statutory document. If it says that Dreamland shall remain an amusement park then that is what it will remain.

That was a nice attempt to avoid answering my question, Bob. Can I therefore assume that you can't answer my previous question?

Nick

[vince69619]

Nick,

As you are aware, Bob has problems replying to any direct questions. I put this down to his employment status.

Vince.

[dave771]

Or more than likely due to the person who employs him? both pretty much suited to each other I think !

[vince69619]

Dave,

That's what I ment!

Employment status, AKA Who he works for!

Vince.

[dave771]

Sorry Vince but hes such a twat it drives me to sleep these days !

[Bob]

I know of plenty of people that would buy the Land.

I thought you were campaigning to keep it open as an Amusement Park Business but you appear to be happy to have the land sold off. There are no end of people that would be prepared to buy a prime site at a knock down rate.

So you are now saying that you do not have anyone that is prepared to run the site as an amusement park ? Just someone that wants to buy the land on a speculative basis. Very Interesting

Wrong. I am not saying that at all.

All the operators I referred to in my previous post would run the site as an amusement park. They would not be buying the land speculatively (and, of course, buying the site speculatively at the moment would be foolish as we have just had an inspector's report stating that it must remain an amusement park!)

My comment about the business is that I cannot imagine any operators would actually want to buy the 'Dreamland Leisure' business (that is, if the business still exists). I certainly wouldn't. And given the damage that has been done to the site by the previous owner, they would be effectively starting from scratch (other than the Scenic Railway). Luckily, the operators I am talking to would have no problem with developing a new amusement park on the site.

And don't forget, Bob, a local plan is a statutory document. If it says that Dreamland shall remain an amusement park then that is what it will remain.

That was a nice attempt to avoid answering my question, Bob. Can I therefore assume that you can't answer my previous question?

Nick

Well you either want an Amusement Park it will have to be a compromise. There is no way at all that Dreamland is viable as a 100% amusement park. If you hold out for that you will end up with an empty derelict site which benefits no one. With the right mix of retail and amusement park you end up with a high class facilty that benefits both the tourist industry and the people of Margate. It seems though your preference is for an empty site. If the site remains empty the chances are you will end up with no amusement park at all. The Scenic Railway has to remain but that does not mean that it has to be open.