Volume 3, No. 5. March 14, 2003
Dream
on
It might come down
to money, as it usually does. However, the significant factor in the Save Dreamland
Campaign, an effort to preserve the seaside amusement park in Margate, England,
is that the issue of land value is being presented in a powerful new paradigm.
Rather than looking at the value of said property to one entity, the campaigners
are casting the debate as the value of that property to the entire community.
We’re talking financial value, too, not merely nostalgia or image.
For one, it helps to have a planning consultant as your campaign leader. “I
wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was worth it,” said
Nick Laister, a technical director at RPS Planning, Transport and Environment,
the United Kingdom’s largest planning consultancy firm. “I’m
involved in this kind of thing all the time. I know when something isn’t
worth fighting for.”
Laister, an amusement historian and editor of www.joylandbooks.com,
was instrumental in getting Dreamland’s Scenic Railway, Britain’s
oldest coaster, listed as a historic structure last year. When news broke in
January that Jimmy Godden was selling his two parks, Dreamland and Rotunda in
Folkestone, to developers who would turn the sites into retail centers and housing,
enthusiasts naturally recruited Laister to head up the campaign to save the
parks.
Laister determined Rotunda, even with its 1922 side friction Runaway Coaster,
could not be saved, though all of its rides are on the market, including the
Runaway. “Folkestone doesn’t see themselves as a seaside resort,”
Laister said. “There’s no desire to see an amusement park remaining.
That’s what the local people want, so there’s no point in pushing
against that.”
In Margate, Laister said, “We know the people are behind us.” As are
local businesses. “A lot of the major organizations in town, the civic
society, historical societies, the hotel and bed and breakfast operators support
us.” Laister therefore is using the planning and land use process to press
the campaign’s case that a reinvested amusement park would bring more dollars
to Margate than would “retail boxes and a supermarket.”
As recently as December, Margate's governing body, the Thanet District Council,
endorsed an amusement venue as the best use of the property. That changed a
month later when Godden and the development firm he intended to sell to presented
their redevelopment plan. While the Council did not accept the plan, it did
reverse its position on the property’s land use, swayed by Godden’s
argument that an amusement park was not viable there. Godden, who purchased
the properties in 1995, has publicly said he is selling the parks so he can
retire; efforts by THE LOOP to reach him for this story were not successful.
The Save Dreamland Campaign claims that a park would be viable, if run properly.
“We don’t think there has been a real commitment to keep it running,”
Laister said. “It isn’t a very attractive park anymore. The best rides
have been taken out, there’s been very little promotion, they have no web
site.” Laister does not believe Dreamland Fun Park could operate on a scale
of Blackpool's Pleasure Beach or Thorpe Park, but it would operate on a scale
suitable to Margate, which has considerable pull from London. “I’ve
had numerous e-mails and letters and telephone calls from London,” said
Laister, who said all the metropolitan newspapers have been covering the fate
of Dreamland. “So many talk about how the Scenic Railway was their
first coaster, and also their mum and dad’s first coaster.”
Dreamland
was even on the mind of Roger Moore of James Bond fame when he attended the
IAAPA Trade Show in November. Pushing his UNICEF agenda, Moore cited his childhood
visits to Dreamland as instigating his lifelong love of the amusement and entertainment
industry (THE LOOP, November
26, 2002).
The Scenic Railway, particularly its listed status, is the linchpin to
the campaign’s plans. The listing does not prevent its demolition, but
the property owner and governing body must exhaust efforts to legitimately save
the structure. That could mean finding a buyer willing to keep the structure.
No amusement venue operator could pay what the developers are willing to pay,
and Godden naturally wants to maximize the value of the site. However, if the
Council denies a change in the land use, “then the property becomes affordable”
for an operator, Laister said.
“We see our role as talking to decision makers and planners to say, ‘This
is not best for Margate,’” Laister said of the redevelopment plans.
“National policy and local policy prefer an amusement park there, and the
Council leader has said the best thing we can do is bring an operator to take
it on.” Laister said “a number of operators” have expressed interest
in taking over the site and investing in rebuilding Dreamland, and at least
one is taking serious steps toward making a bid.
Meanwhile, the Save Dreamland Campaign is marshaling a show of public support
with a Save Dreamland Convention cosponsored by the European Coaster Club. Originally
scheduled for April 19, the event has been moved to June 1 allowing the organizers
to improve the program, which will include various speakers and films at Margate’s
Theatre Royal and several other events. For more information, visit the campaign’s
web site, www.savedreamland.co.uk.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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