Some may see a passing resemblance to this fencing at Dreamland and what is now in Culmers Land, Cecilia Road and in Dane Valley and around the Securitas Depot, Tonbridge, but I want to to talk about Dreamland, as someone asked for an up-date, albeit on another site.Readers, if there are any, will be pleased to know that 49% (okay, roughly half the site) will be built on with houses and that the other half will still be an Amusement Park! Why is this? Simply because TDC has now approved a Planning Brief on the matter. They ignored the advice of the Independent Planning Inspector who stated that the Dreamland site should be reserved solely for a major visitor attraction as it was integral to Margate's regeneration and was a key site in the town. Despite the people of Thanet overwhelmingly stating in a 'consultation process' that Dreamland should be reserved as a visitor attraction site, our elected Council, TDC, has chosen to ignore the wishes expressed.
Let me quote Cllr Roger Latchford, one of our elected representatives who clearly thinks that TDC knows best: " "People have made their views clear that they wish to keep an amusement park and THAT THEY WISH TO AVOID MORE HOUSE BUILDING" How clear is that when combined with an Independent Planning Inspectors recommendations? So half the site, lets not quibble about 1% please, is to have permission for house building. Why? Because, despite, the downturn in the housing market, developers like Persimmon, still expect to make at least a 20% profit on each house built. For a £150,000 unit that means £30,000 per house!
As for 'The Save Dreamland Campaign' they caved into Waterbridge and its 'Siren' voice a long while back. Nick Laister, their 'leader' said " We're happy with the brief......the amusement park will still be the dominant use ( by 1%!!! so big deal) and if that means that some of the site (almost HALF is some of the site?) is used for housing , then in my opinion, thats a compromise worth taking." What ideas do these 'anoraks' of 'Save Dreamland'( what an oxymoron that is) have of the 'new' Dreamland? They have proposed a 'heritage' site of knackered old rides that the average Londoner will laugh at and I wonder who the future 'Director' of this 'Heritage Collection' might be? I will not make clear my thoughts about the 'Scenic Railway' just in case I get a knock on the door after it suffers the fate of 'internal combustion'.
As our 'rulers' TDC seem to hold the expressed views of its electorate in contempt, they should not be surprised to discover that the 'contempt is mutual'.
5 comments:
Boring! Enough about fences already. They look nice and clean and sort of burly in a bouncerish sort of way! Keep out vile fiend! They seem to shout. So leave them alone! Even fences have feelings you know!
Consultation? Whats that?
I wonder if the Council could explain how its being efficient in making two trips to pick up the same amount of rubbish in Margate Central and Cliftomville West when before these changes it seemed to be doing pretty dandy with just one collection a week...
Surely its costing the Council more money?
Well said. Great site by the way (your blog, not Dreamland).
In answer to James, thats what good councils are doing all over the UK, consulting and involving people in the decision making process, but not here in Thanet.
Glad you like this new site, 15.07 and thanks for your kind comment. I am trying to create a temporary 'filler' until normal service is resumed by those excellent blog sites, Thanetonian, East Cliff Richard and Thanetlife.
You are indeed doing a great job.
As for Dreamland,it is heartbreaking to see the mess this has become. On the approach to Thanet it is still advertised for new visitors.
This has been a sell out from day one.
having lived in Thanet for 62 years I fear for its future. If I could be convinced that the economy would improve I would feel more hopeful. I have seen far too many pipe dreams unfortunately come to nothing.
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