Margate's Dreamland theme park overspends by £2m
The £18m project to restore a seaside funfair has overspent by more than £2m.
Dreamland heritage amusement park, which opened in June, has 17 vintage fairground attractions from funfairs around the UK. The listed, wooden Scenic Railway, which was to be the star attraction at the park, has not yet opened. Thanet District Council's cabinet has approved a proposal to fund the shortfall with a loan paid for by revenue from Dreamland's car park. The main areas of the project which overspent were the Scenic Railway restoration, external areas of the park and professional fees, the cabinet was told. Thanet's cabinet approved additional funding of £2.25 million for the project, including the car park contribution, the council has announced. The council said the overspend of £396,000 on professional fees was due to the work carried out over the compulsory purchase of the site. The site on Margate seafront had been closed for 10 years with campaigners fighting to save it from development. The council said: "The original budgets have to be based on estimations that often need revising as the project advances. "In this instance this is due mainly to unforeseen works on site and the elongation of the project timeline due to the compulsory purchase process." The wooden Grade II*-listed rollercoaster, badly damaged in an arson attack in 2008, was not restored in time for the opening. Testing on the Scenic Railway's trains is continuing, the council said. Dreamland's history 1920 Dreamland opens with Scenic Railway rollercoaster 1939 Site requisitioned by the government and closed for the duration of World War Two 1946 Park reopens, with additional funding a year later from Butlins 1980 The opening of the then largest Big Wheel in Europe 2002 Scenic Railway rollercoaster gets Grade-II listed status 2005 Park closed and site sold to Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company. Save Dreamland Campaign set up 2008 Scenic Railway badly damaged in arson attack. 2012 Thanet District Council approves compulsory purchase order. Wayne Hemingway becomes theme park designer 2013 Council takes over ownership of the site 2015 First phase of new Dreamland opens on 19 June