Feedback from the public showed that 65% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the Planning Brief overall.  There was strong support for keeping the Scenic Railway (over 92% of respondents want it retained - the strongest support for any part of the Brief!), keeping more than 50% of the site as an amusement park (88%),  and for the Dreamland Cinema building to be kept for leisure uses (86%).

There was less support for associated enabling development, including family homes and apartments, with 55% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with this idea. However, Planning Managers have explained that this type of development is needed to fund the provision and operation of a high quality amusement park in the future and, in response to these concerns from local people, the brief has now been amended to explain this fully. To view the results online, click here.

Save Dreamland Campaign Leader Nick Laister comments:

"The results of this public consultation demonstrate yet again that local residents and businesses want to see an amusement park at Dreamland, set around the Scenic Railway. This is consistent with all the other numerous consultations that have taken place over the past four years and show that people are not giving up.

• Made reference to the definition of an 'amusement park' and the rationale for including the Cinema building within this definition;
• They have clarified the status given to Margate Masterplan, as we thought that the Brief did not make it clear that this document has little or no status and that it was heavily criticised;
• They have removed most of the ambiguity relating to 'amusement park' and 'tourist destination', as we were concerned that other non-amusement park uses should not be allowed to creep into the 51% amusement park area;
• Reference is now made to the need to secure the amusement park site when it is closed;
• Clarification that the 51% amusement park area excludes the car park;
• Clarification that only ancillary retail will be permitted within the amusement park;
• Reference to the fact that additional retail and leisure on the remaining land would be subject to sequential and viability tests;
• Clarification relating to the section 106 funding priority to maintain the viable amusement park, to ensure that the funding is made available by the developer to rebuild Dreamland, and that this would be a priority call on resources over and above affordable housing, in line with the Local Plan policy; and
• Addition of Save Dreamland to list of consultees.

"The remainder of the consultation analysis makes for interesting reading. Both Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company Ltd and Ticketcard Ltd asked for the 51% amusement park requirement to be applied more flexibly and/or removed altogether, but the Council has decided to maintain this requirement and indeed to strengthen it further by clarifying that certain uses would fall outside the amusement park use. We are therefore very pleased with the outcome of the consultation."

The Brief was approved at Cabinet on 11 December and can be downloaded as a PDF document by clicking here. It will now form one of the main considerations for future planning applications.

The Planning Brief has been covered in the local press in the run-up to the Christmas period. The Isle of Thanet Gazette on 7 December had a short report. This was followed by a further report in the same newspaper on 21 December.

In October, we made an appeal for funds to help us pay the £2,000 bill for contractors and transport. Secretary of the Dreamland Trust, Susan Marsh, is very pleased with the response:

"We can now confirm that the amount raised so far is a magnificent £1,195.50. A final push to reach £1,500 should cover all the costs for now.

"We have to say a special thank you to L E Jones Ltd, Hauliers of Ruthin, North Wales (especially Dave and Jack), to Jed Hopkinson and his men of  B L Hopkinson Constructional Engineering Ltd and to the Leader and Officers of Thanet District Council. Without all their kindness, help and understanding we would not have achieved this rescue within a budget we could contemplate and the timescale we had."

The ride is now safely in storage in Thanet.

Susan Marsh adds: "This was a new experience for me and I had to make arrangements with rather too many unknowns, such as what there was, where it was, how long it would take to get out and even, for a while, where it was going. Yet everyone went out of their way to help and make it happen despite, in the case of the hauliers, not even knowing us. They do now! Everyone went that extra mile and we are grateful to them. This really was a case of the Campaign, contractors and the local authority all working together.”