The Scenic - an Icon of England?

[EAS]

And the few remaining woodies - come on, please all vote yes!

http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations ... er=reverse

[Neil]

I tried going onto the page and it said 'thanks for voting' so hopefully if somethings gone wrong in the system I voted 'yes'. I left a message as well though so hopefully if my vote's been lost they'll get the picture. Wasn't there some other survey:

Over 99.9% of people want the Scenic Railway to be demolished (based on a survey of the Godden and Hunter households)
Over 99.9% of people want the Scenic to be saved (based on the other 99.9% of the population)

Hopefully the wooden coasters will get some recognition as they don't seem to get a great deal at the moment (or at least they do, but not from the people in power.

[EAS]

This one is an official Government sponsored thing - I'm very surprised how quickly they accepted the nomination, and put it up to be voted for as an icon - others have taken considerably longer.

Voting may take while to register - I suspect that it only actually is counted on working days!

If you have made a comment it will be read and moderated before being posted, and then you will be contacted by e-mail.

Every scrap of publicity helps I think!

I gather the chainsaws are poised to resume at Southport...

[Neil]

I suppose if the Cyclone is demolished everyone will be happy. The Pleasurebeach will be that much surer that no rival is going to start up, and if it is redeveloped for something like housing they'll get a share of the financial spoils. The governement can boast about how much housing they've built on 'brown field sites'. The Council would also get some dosh if they own the site which could be used to slash taxes. The only ones who wouldn't be happy are the newts, historians, staff, locals and tourists. When you look at it like that I don't suppose many of the politicians will be all that sorry. Preservation orders my a***. So when do they dig one out the draw and use them? Oh well, politics aya. I wonder why there's so much voting apathy.

[EAS]

Yup. The bulldozers are poised to move in on Cyclone very soon, I gather.

If anyone is getting a page without the ability to vote, then try putting

wooden roller coasters

into the search and get a fresh page, or try via the homepage to see the latest nominations, or try the A - Z list.

http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations


The voting is increasing so it must be working for some!

[bluea61]

http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations ... -coasters/

Try that link, it should work. I had the same trouble of not being able to vote to start with.

[EAS]

Thanks. That still tells me I've voted, but I gather that's cos I have!

[Alan]

Yes worked for me and left a comment now on the comment page.

Alan

[Strongbow55]

The scenic needs money spent on it
This last season it was unoperational quite a few times due to the track
problems after the first lift the track at the bottom was lifting and creating lots of problems would lottery funding be available?
and excuse my ignorance but who is responsible for keeping the scenic in operational condition?
or is the listed status just to ensure it stays standing and not in operational condition
My concern is that now the season is over that perhaps No maintainance is being carried out until another lessee takes over the responsibility for the machine
In defence of the Webbs from last season they worked very hard on keeping the scenic open and on occasions worked through the night to ensure it was open
but who maintains it during the winter?

[EAS]

Sadly, there is no legal responsibilty to keep it running, or maintained, although if it got into a bad state of repair the council could put a repairs notice on it and ensure it wasn't dangerous. That's not the same as safe to use however. They could even compulsorily purchase it but that is an extreme measure which at this time I don't suppose they would be prepared to take, and they would need someoen willing to take it on and keep it running.

What it really needs is to be leased from the owners by a charitable trust -that way, lottery and other charitable funding may be able to be applied for - but it's not simple I agree.

Let's hope next season whoever takes on Dreamland will also be prepared to fork out to keep it maintained. I have no doubt that if the place was wll run and properly advertised it could be profitable.

[Nick]

Of course, the irony in all this is that there is absolutely no need for any lottery funding for the Scenic, nor is there the need for it to deteriorate over the winter months. Park operators would be more than happy to take it on and invest in it. Sadly, given Thanet DC's flawed decisions, we are now in the hands of the owners. Thankfully, the current owners have made public statements that they see the Scenic Railway as an important asset.

[EAS]

Good!

Money, mouths etc...