Susan Marsh, Secretary of the Dreamland Trust, said: “It was a productive meeting as we move forward to making formal grant applications very soon”.
 

Nick Laister, Chair of The Dreamland Trust, said: "It is exciting to see the architects' first layouts of the Heritage Amusement Park. Initial reports from Locum Consulting on the business plan were also very promising, but there is still much work to be done if we are to meet the tight deadlines for the grant applications."

Nick Laister, Sarah Vickery and Susan Marsh will all be attending a whole series of meetings in Margate during next week and are also preparing for the special evening event ‘I Dream of Dreamland’ on Sunday 15th March when they hope to see supporters of the Campaign.

Thought to be the only cages of their kind left in this country, the two metre semi-circular cages most likely contained monkeys. The zoo lasted until 1905 – the year Sanger retired – when the remaining animals were sold but was partially restocked in July 1913. When Dreamland was opened in 1920 the grounds were derelict but were restored, although the cages were never returned to use.

We are also able to announce a special evening event in Margate on Sunday 15 March 2009, open to all, at which the proposals for a heritage amusement park at Dreamland will be launched and discussed. Full details of the event - called I Dream of Dreamland - to follow soon. A teaser below - put it in your diaries.

Dreamland Trust Chairman Nick Laister said: "This was a very important meeting, where we needed to iron out a number of fundamental issues. I am pleased to say that positive progress was made and I am confident that we will be able to put forward strong applications for grant funding later this year. If we are successful, work building a new amusement park at Dreamland will commence."

Work on the layout of the park continues apace, with a further design workshop proposed for next Friday, 27 February.

The proposed Heritage Amusement Park was also covered in Your Thanet.

Ezekiel contacted the Dreamland Trust today to refute the report in last week's Thanet Times.

"I made it very clear to the reporter that I support the heritage park. With appropriate enabling development, it's absolutely the right way to go. After all, it will be my signature on the funding document, so of course I am 100% behind the project."

Front page news

The Trust's vision was the front page item in today's Thanet Times, backed by a major article inside the newspaper. In the article, based around an interview with Dreamland Trust Treasurer Sarah Vickery, the Trust exclusively announces that work could begin on Dreamland’s revival by the end of the year if a multimillion-pound bid for funding is successful. Sarah explains the reasons for the launch this week:  "We felt we had to release this information now in response to Sandy Ezekiel’s comments, which were unhelpful to say the least."
 

The article goes on to state: "The park could include bumper cars track, a water shoot, sandstorm wheel, ghost train, caterpillar, haunted swing and the return of the river caves. The cinema could become a music venue with the facilities to cut a track, and museum documenting the history of Margate’s teenagers, from punks to rockers.

"Sea Change, a cultural grant scheme, has already given money to the Margate Renewal Partnership to carry out preparatory work for the heritage amusement park and in June will tell the group if it has secured more funding for work to begin."

Further progress was made on the layout of the Heritage Amusement Park yesterday when a design workshop was held at the offices of Dreamland's architects Levitt Bernstein. Nick Laister and Susan Marsh represented the Dreamland Trust at the meeting and, with assistance from Paris-based theme park designer Jean-Marc Toussaint and tourism experts Locum Consulting, worked through the rides acquired for the project to assess the space required to deliver a tourist attraction with sufficient critical mass to act as a destination, which can accommodate large numbers of visitors in pleasant landscaped grounds.

Susan Marsh comments that the day was a success: "Whilst the meeting schedule is getting intensive its worth all the travelling as we see our dreams coming to fruition".

Campaign Leader, Nick Laister, says: "We are obviously surprised and disappointed by this statement. We are currently seeking clarification because it is completely at odds with his position at meetings and completely flies in the face of the Council's own adopted Planning Brief for the site. More importantly, such comments could severely undermine the work being carried out by the Margate Renewal Partnership, Council officers and Dreamland's owners in bringing forward a thrilling new amusement park at Dreamland. This is particularly concerning as the various partners in the project (the Council, Margate Renewal Partnership, Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company and The Dreamland Trust/Save Dreamland Campaign), supported by consultants (The Prince's Regeneration Trust, Locum Consulting, Jean-Marc Toussaint, Levitt Bernstein Architects) gear up to submitting a bid millions of pounds of grant funding for the world's first heritage amusement park at Dreamland.

"From my own perspective, it will be very disappointing if Mr Ezekiel does not retract these comments, not only because it goes against the wishes of the people of Margate in the various consultation exercises undertaken by the Council over the last few years, but because this U-turn comes at a time when major players in the tourist attractions industry have come forward and expressed their serious interest in operating this exciting 21st century attraction. We await clarification."

A summary version of the Trust's vision for the park is now available to download from here. Much more information on our proposals can be seen on our special Dreamland Heritage Amusement Park Microsite, including the Concept Plan and details of the acquired rides.

In a flurry of recent meetings, Campaign Coordinator Sarah Vickery represented the Campaign at a meeting Margate on Tuesday to discuss arrangements for stakeholder consultations in Margate. Susan Marsh represented the Campaign, alongside Derek Harding of the Margate Renewal Partnership and Nick Dermott of Thanet District Council, at a meeting with the Heritage Lottery Fund on Wednesday.

In other news, discussions continue in the attempts by Thanet District Council to bring a summer funfair to Margate.

If the booklets are purchased directly from Peter, he will donate £1.00 for each copy sold to the Campaign. The booklets cost £3.75 each, including UK postage and packing. Please send a cheque, payable to P Wilson, to:

Peter Wilson, 6 Sea View Road, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 1BX.

Don't forget to mention the Save Dreamland Campaign to ensure that we receive the donation.

Newspaper report here.