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It’s been a pleasure (and a struggle) UK park goes dark


T


he English amusement park Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes closed for good on October 29. Guests were able to enjoy a firework finale as they paid a tearful farewell to the east coast attraction, which has traded since 1993. Originally operated as a sister park to Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire, Pleasure Island has been run as an independent concern since 2010 by Melanie Wood, sister of Flamingo Land boss Gordon Gibb.


"For the past seven seasons we, as a team, have tried very hard indeed to keep


the business going but unfortunately there have been too many hurdles,” Wood told The Grimsby News. "Despite heavy investment over the years the visitor numbers continue to fall and the good August weather this year sadly was not enough to sustain the business. In truth it has been a massive struggle from day one but I lived in the hope that with the support of such a loyal and dedicated team and some good weather we would get through. The team never let me down but over the years the weather, amongst other things, certainly has." Wood adds that the future of the site, once a zoo and stock car racing track, is


unknown, but she will continue to operate the park's McCormack's bar and restaurant after a refurbishment this winter. “Cleethorpes as a resort is still growing and going places,” insists chairman of the


local Visitor Economy Service Retail Group, Lawrence Brown. “It is a fantastic resort. There are lots of other things to do. Just look at the investment in The Pier and the fantastic regeneration on the back of that.”


Dreamland's nightmares continue


The former owners of Dreamland say they have made an offer to the local Thanet District Council (TDC) to take back the site of the English amusement park in the town of Margate, Kent, and put houses on it, similar to their original plans when it closed in 2005. Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company (MTCRC) eventually surrendered


the site in 2014 following a compulsory purchase order served in 2011, but has been in dispute with the council over the compensation it feels it should be paid. Spokesman Toby Hunter says MTCRC has now asked to council to cough up £1million ($1.22m/€1.1m) to cover costs and "draw a line" under situation, rather than holding for the £15 million he claims is due. TDC, which handed the site over to the charitable Dreamland Trust to transform into a heritage theme park, is reported to have paid approximately £750,000 to MTCRC until now. The park is in a vulnerable position due to poor financial performance and


various problems behind-the-scenes in the season-and-a-half it has been open in its current “vintage” incarnation. Dreamland reopened last year with Sands Heritage as operator, which has accrued millions of pounds of debts. "Dreamland is not going to rescue itself,” says Hunter. “It had £16 million of public money invested and then went bust. "We have a clear view of what we want to put on the site, including houses and gardens.” Thanet District Council leader Chris Wells has dismissed MTCRC's opportunistic attempt to take back the site. Although Hunter has stressed that “we are happy to make sure the menagerie and the Scenic [rollercoaster] are looked after and all is fine with the HLF [Heritage Lottery Fund],” these two attractions alone would not an amusement park make. The challenge for Dreamland in the coming months will be to prove that the exisiting park is a viable concern.


RIGHT: Dreamland’s Screamand Halloween season, produced by AtmosFear! Scare Entertainment, has been highly praised


16


NOVEMBER 2016


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