News: August 2008

In  January 2003 the owner of Dreamland, Jimmy Godden, announced the closure of Dreamland. The park is to be redeveloped as "leisure boxes, some retail and a supermarket". Joyland Books will provide updates on the campaign to save Dreamland and its internationally-important Scenic Railway ride.

Click here for the latest news

Sunday, 31 August 2008

A blast from the Campaign past! Amusement park nostalgia website themagiceye has dug deep in its archives this month to present an interview with campaign leader Nick Laister dating back to 2002, before he set up the Save Dreamland Campaign, and with Sarah Vickery, dating from March 2003. Together these two short interviews provide a snapshot of the early days of the campaign to save Margate's famous amusement park and its Grade II listed Scenic Railway roller coaster. How things have changed! Read on...

Saturday, 30 August 2008

Thanet District Council has now completed the erection of a steel security fence around the Scenic Railway. The £40,000 cost of the fence will now be recovered from the owners of Dreamland, Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company Ltd (MTCRC). This news is carried on the BBC News website.

The Thanet Extra of 29 August featured news of the fence works.

The Thanet Times included similar news on 26 August.

Saturday, 23 August 2008

Contractors working for Thanet District Council have entered the Dreamland site and started constructing a a second security fence around the Scenic Railway, claiming that the one currently under construction by MTCRC is not adequate to protect the ride.

The Council served a notice last month requiring the owners of Dreamland to put up a continuous 2.4 metre high steel fence around the entirety of the listed structure. A further notice was served last week saying they would enter the site and erect a suitable fence themselves as the fence currently under construction was not good enough. The Council claimed the current fence did not leave sufficient area for maintenance to be carried out on the ride and the fence was not designed to prevent potential arsonists from climbing over. Click on the image to the right to see the original fence and the Council's replacement fence.

This news was covered in the Thanet Times on 19 August.


The new Council-erected fence at Dreamland, with MTCRC's fence behind. Click on the image above for a larger version. (Photo: Nick Dermott)

The Thanet Adscene on 21 August also covered the fence story.

Sunday, 10 August 2008

An article published in Coin Slot a few weeks after the Scenic Railway fire (which we did not feature on this website at the time) has just been brought to our attention. Click the image on the right to download the article in PDF format.

Whilst on the subject of missing news updates, the Save Dreamland Forum is a good place to go to catch up on all the latest Dreamland-related news, much of which does not appear on these pages. Over the past couple of weeks, we have had updates on the Repairs Notice served on the owners of Dreamland, letters to the Times about Margate, news about the demise of potential Dreamland owner Paigle properties, and much interest in the lack of donkeys on Margate beach this year. Everything you could ever want to know about all things Margate and Dreamland! There are new posts every day, so click here for the latest updates.

Finally, Friday's Isle of Thanet Gazette featured an article about the Repairs Notice, pointing out that the owners had been asked to take an identical fence down a couple of years ago (although the article does not mention that the original fence was erected whilst the Scenic Railway was still believed to be an operational ride, as opposed to an abandoned structure needing protection from arson attacks).


Click on the image above for the full article from Coin Slot, the amusement arcade trade magazine.

Friday, 8 August 2008

Today's Thanet Extra features two Dreamland-related stories.

Sunday, 3 August 2008

News round-up for the last few days. Wednesday's Your Thanet featured news of the Scenic Railway Urgent Works Notice on its front page. Click the image to the right to download the page as a PDF.

Thursday's Thanet Adscene featured a similar article, under the headline "Protect fun park coaster: Dreamland owners ordered to fence off ride":

"Thanet council has issued a notice demanding the owners of Margate’s Dreamland take action to protect the former funpark’s Grade II listed Scenic Railway. The ride was damaged in a blaze deliberately started by arsonists in April, but the Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company (MTCRC) has yet to put up a fence to prevent further damage. A notice has been served by Thanet council to ensure that a fence is put in place to protect the Scenic Railway, the country’s oldest rollercoaster, until it is repaired. The Urgent Works Notice has been served on the owners of Dreamland. It requires them to put up a continuous 2.4 metre high steel fence around the entirety of the listed structure.

Click on the image above to view a larger version of the page in PDF format.

"The notice was served on Monday and if it is not complied with within two weeks from the date it was served, the council will use its planning powers to send contractors on to the site to put up the fence and recover the cost of the work from MTCRC."

Friday's Isle of Thanet Gazette also featured the news.

Click here for the latest news

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