"DREAMLAND moved a step closer to reality yesterday as a judge threw out the appeal against Thanet council's buyout of the park.
The Dreamland Trust's £11 million plans to build a heritage amusement park on Margate seafront could be weeks away as Judge Philip Sycamore rejected the owners' challenge to the scheme.
Trust chairman Nick Laister said: "It's fantastic news. It means we are now back on track.
"We can hopefully get on site in a matter of weeks and begin work as we have the designs and rides ready off site.
Main image for Orchards Property
"The plan was for a 12-month build so it's vital we get going as soon as possible in time for an opening next year."
Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company (MTCRC) bought the site for £20 million in 2005 although the site is worth a fraction of that sum without planning permission for development.
The owners say they will fight on for a hearing at the Court of Appeal.
Director Toby Hunter said: "This judge has failed to consider our unconditional offer to sell the land for the amusement park to the council for £1 and we would have kept the car park and exhibition area south of that.
"He has also overlooked the Trust's unviable business plans compared to our scheme which would be cross-funded from residential development which the Inspector described as fanciful but later acknowledged was viable."
Shortly before the verdict was delivered, the Isle of Thanet Gazette revealed that the Dreamland cinema was sold in a cut-price deal.
A Thanet council spokesman confirmed this week that it fully intends to recover all of its working costs in doing urgent works to repair the Grade II*listed building."
rollermonkey said:New race: Scenic Railway vs. Flying Turns
Go.
And now that the Court has thrown out the latest appeal to the CPO, we can reveal who was successful in purchasing the Dreamland Cinema from the MTCRC
The Goddens are back - two of them this time, with the hope that they can persuade Margate Council to shift their support from the CPO to their plans for the Cinema.
It never sodding ends!
Jimmy Godden is the (now deceased) former owner of Dreamland and The Rotunda in Folkestone (home of a very rare side-friction roller coaster). He basically bought up seaside amusement parks then managed to get the planning status changed to residential, thereby ramping up the land value significantly.
If you go to Folkestone, you can tell The Rotunda - it's the large expanse of empty land on the seafront where there used to be a lovely little amusement park. He had plans to build houses, shops etc. but once everything - including the classic dome structure - was demolished, nothing happened.
He wanted to do the same to Dreamland, but Nick Laister got in there and managed to get the Scenic Railway listed to match the Cinema. It was no longer possible to flatten the site and cover it with houses, so Godden and his friends put together a plan to rival the plan the Save Dreamland campaign had come up with - theirs included more houses than amusement park. Of course, there were some very strange occurances, such as fires starting up in arcades and, of course, the Scenic Railway fire, where traces of a fire accelerator were found. With no Scenic, there would have been no more listed buildings in the way of their houses.
Anyhow - now we have Godden's two sons, having inherited his money, able to buy the Cinema from their friends who currently own the site without anyone knowing and possibly present yet another hurdle to the Heritage Amusement Park that we all want to see.