A demonstration has been held outside Dreamland Margate in protest at plans to shut down operations on the Scenic Railway.
On Tuesday (January 27) it was announced that Dreamland bosses had made the decision to put the Grade II* listed ride into ‘retirement.’
The ride, which has a 106 year history at the park although it was substantially rebuilt in 2014/15, was put out of action by damage to the wooden track in the summer of 2024.
It has not been in operation since that date and Thanet councillors have been informed that an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has advised Dreamland that to operate the ride they would need to implement a daily inspection routine.
Dreamland says it is not viable for them to complete the daily inspections, which they say engineers indicate would take up to five hours each day, and so the view is that the park is no longer able to operate the ride.
The announcement provoked a public outcry. Margate councillor Rob Yates, who asked a question about the future of the Scenic Railway during a full council meeting last year, slammed the decision as “Dreamland refusing to put their hands in their pockets and destroying an iconic and historical symbol for our town.”
Thanet council deputy leader Helen Whitehead, who attended today’s (January 31) protest has written to the government’s Secretary of State for culture to ask for an extension of the protection of listed assets significant due to their function – such as the Scenic Railway – so that they are protected for their structure, but also their active usage.
The value of the continued operation of the ride and concern over its future was summed up by resident Martin Fennell who posted on social media to say: “The Scenic Railway hasn’t just “reached the end of its life” – it was taken out of operation in 2024 after track damage, and the decision not to reopen it is a commercial and strategic choice, not an unavoidable one.
“Yes, the structure will remain because it’s Grade II* listed, but keeping the shell while removing the function is not the same as preserving living heritage.
“And this is where the concern really sits. When Thanet District Council sold the Dreamland freehold, the so-called protection was a 10-year restriction on residential development. A 10-year clause is meaningless in development terms- that’s barely a pause. If this was genuinely about safeguarding Margate’s heritage, it should have been 99 years or permanent.
“Dreamland is a historic amusement park, not a land bank. Once these sites are slowly “repurposed” and hollowed out, they never come back. Margate didn’t fight to save Dreamland just to end up with a static monument and a future planning application waiting in the wings.”
Housing had been proposed on the site after former owner Jimmy Godden announced in 2003 that Dreamland would close and be redeveloped for shops and offices. The Save Dreamland Campaign was set up to fight for the future of Dreamland.
In 2005 Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company, (MTCRC) which had shareholders including Mr Godden, bought the park for £20 million.
The following year Dreamland closed to the public and all rides, apart from the Scenic Railway, were removed.
By 2007 The Dreamland Cinema was also closed. Ideas were put forward for the site which included a mixed scheme with part the site kept as an amusement park, along with homes.
In 2008 The Scenic Railway was partially destroyed by fire after an arson attack on April 7. The owners pledged to rebuild. Thanet council threatened to compulsory purchase the site if it was not repaired. Dreamland Cinema was upgraded to Grade II* status on April 25.
In 2009 The Dreamland Trust, which was created through the Save Dreamland campaign, unveiled plans for a heritage theme park and a £3.7 million government grant was awarded to help bring the park back to life.
In 2011 a compulsory purchase order was served. Listed buildings were repaired after council served urgent works notices. Legal battles pushed the park’s opening date from 2012 to 2013.
MTCRC put forward alternative plans for the site in an attempt to stop the CPO.
The following year Jimmy Godden died. MTCRC became DreamlandLive. In August the government approved the CPO to Thanet council after an inquiry.
In 2013, after prolonged legal arguments a notice to quit the park was finally served. Designer Wayne Hemingway’s company was hired to create plans for the park.
It is understood issues may now be raised over whether the cessation of the Scenic Railway’s use calls into question the basis that the CPO was granted on.
In all some £18 million in funding was amassed to save the site including grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Sea Change and a contribution of £4m from Thanet council.
The Scenic Railway was substantially rebuilt in time for the reopening in 2015 under new operator Sands Heritage Ltd. By 2016 Sands Heritage had gone into administration. It was saved by a multi-million pound investment from offshore hedgefund Arrowgrass.
In 2017 a £15million overhaul of Dreamland is announced with more funding from Arrowgrass. Plans for new and restored rides, landscaped gardens, festivals and street food are unveiled. The park was again ‘reopened’ in May that year and by the October Dreamland exited administration.
In 2019 Thanet council Cabinet members agree the sale of the freehold for the entire Dreamland site -including the council car park and cinema building – to operators Sands Heritage Limited.
The sale completed for £7m across 2020/21. It included a restriction prohibiting housing development at the site for 10 years.
In December 2023: Dreamland company Sands Heritage was taken over by LN Gaiety Holdings, a subsidiary of concert and festival giant Live Nation, meaning the park had a new owner.
Dreamland is likely to be called in to the council’s scrutiny panel and asked to answer questions about the decision to stop running the Scenic Railway.
Cllr Whitehead says although the authority has ‘no direct control’ over the ceasing of ride operations, members can ask for details of the Health and Safety Executive report that Dreamland has based the decision on.
Today’s protest, organised by resident Nicholas Chamberlain and attended by people passionate about saving the ride, gathered at the former council car park which was sold to operator Sands Heritage in 2021 and then marched along the seafront to the Dreamland Cinema building.
A petition has also been launched by resident Carol Messenger asking Thanet council to exercise any powers it may have to ensure the ride is preserved.
The council cannot force Dreamland to run the ride.
Mrs Messenger, who is a former district councillor and a trustee with the Dreamland Heritage Trust, says: “Our request is not for the council to dictate commercial operation, but for it to exercise its existing statutory responsibilities to safeguard a nationally significant heritage asset restored with public funding, and to ensure that any future proposals are subject to proper planning, conservation scrutiny, and public consultation.”
Find the petition by clicking here
A Dreamland spokesperson said: “A new future for Dreamland’s much-loved 100+ year old Scenic Railway is being imagined, as its current purpose as a rollercoaster has come to an end.
“An extensive process of consultations and inspections has been taking place to plan for the future of the Scenic Railway at Dreamland in Margate.
“Independent ADIPS (Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme) contractors, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive), external rides consultants and the technical services team all carried out inspections and their findings were presented to Dreamland, who in turn worked in close consultation with The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England and liaised with Thanet District Council.
“Further to these discussions, it has been concluded that after 100+ years, the ride has come to the end of its current life and it is no longer able to continue to be used as an amusement park ride.
“Dreamland is committed to finding a new long-term plan to reinvent the Scenic Railway and for it to be enjoyed by future generations in a fresh way. As a first phase of this repurposing, Dreamland has invited the Dreamland Heritage Trust to collaborate on a celebratory pop-up exhibit for summer 2026.
“A long-term plan for the new lease of life for the Scenic Railway will be announced in due course, following a public call out for suggestions and further consultation with planning experts.”
What a sad lot of people, haven’t you got anything better to do ,if you want to protest do it for something that really matters
Just because you don’t agree with this protest does not mean they do not believe in it and they have a perfect right to protest and react as they wish. For them and many, this ride does matter. As does the principle.
You want thanet council to sort it out, but also don’t mind if a big rate payer leaves, one of the towns main attractions is scuppered, and thus tourism takes a big, big hit?
Are you dense?
Next time there’s a concert, protest in front of the gates! Seriously.
That won’t end well. Especially with folk who have paid forty quid a ticket!
Good! That’s the kind of bad publicity this place needs.
Margate is up in arms, Margate will never be the same, the Scenic is the heart of Margate….. 25 people there, maybe 30?
The council members need to show backbone. Public money (taxpayers) was used to rebuilt the Scenic. So the current owners have a choice, no Scenic, no music licence. What’s their pleasure.
Is it perhaps the case that Live Nation has looked at all the previous redevelopment plans and realised that it can maintain the indoor and outdoor stage areas for concerts whilst giving the whole of the rest of the site over to concerts ?
Just take a glance at the featured MTCRC plan !
ooops – I mean giving over to housing !