Court of Appeal upholds CPO by council of site of famous amusement park

A district council’s compulsory purchase of the site of a famous amusement park has today been upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Thanet District Council served a compulsory purchase order for the Dreamland site in Margate in June 2011. The park had shut in 2002 and the site had been unused since 2006.

The then owners, the Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company, challenged the CPO. However, after an inquiry in January 2012, the Secretary of State – following the recommendations of an inspector – approved the purchase in August 2012.

The owners took the case to the High Court, advancing a wide range of grounds of challenge, but His Honour Judge Sycamore found in favour of the local authority.

In Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 1178 the Court of Appeal today upheld HHJ Sycamore’s ruling.

The owners only pursued two grounds of challenge before the Court of Appeal:

1. The issue of viability: the scheme adopted by the council to redevelop – in partnership with The Dreamland Trust – was not operationally viable and that the business plan was fundamentally flawed.
2. Regeneration could have been achieved without a CPO.

On the first ground, Lord Justice Elias said: “Given in particular the strong commitment which the council had shown to implement the scheme, the inspector’s assessment that the….business plan was prudent and cautious, and the willingness of third parties to support the scheme by giving substantial sums of money, the inspector’s conclusion that the particular scheme was operationally viable was plainly sustainable.”

On the second ground, the judge accepted that a key sentence in the inspector’s report to the Secretary of State in relation to the claimants’ negotiating stance (on sales of parts of the site) was “potentially misleading”, but he said it was an error of no materiality.

Lord Justice Elias added that even if it could be said to have been a material mis-statement of the objectors’ position, the Secretary of State would inevitably have approved the scheme even if he had been accurately informed of the position.

“The need for regeneration for the economic and social benefit of Margate was overwhelming: there were two schemes in play, only one of which was, in the inspector’s view, satisfactory,” the judge said. “The proposed development….required the whole site; and the CPO was necessary to secure the relevant land because the appellants were not willing to transfer it voluntarily. The offer to sell the areas 1-4 was insufficient to achieve the council’s objective.”

Thanet welcomed the Court of Appeal's ruling and said it would now, in partnership with The Dreamland Trust, progress with plans “to create a world class visitor attraction for Margate – an amusement park of thrilling historic rides”.

Cllr Clive Hart, Leader of the council, said: “This is fantastic news and marks a key milestone for the future of Dreamland.

“With significant external funding in place and overwhelming public support, we have remained confident in our vision to create a world class visitor attraction on this site.”

Cllr Hart added: “We are committed to delivering this landmark project and believe the compulsory purchase of the land was the only viable option to save and restore Dreamland, given the unacceptable length of time it has remained empty.

“Dreamland is a precious asset for Thanet and beyond so we are thrilled with the ruling from the Court of Appeal.”

Assets at the amusement park, which was developed in 1919, include:

• The 1920 Scenic Railway - the UK’s oldest roller coaster and a Grade II* listed structure.
• The 1935 2,200 seat Grade II* listed cinema building – described as “a super-cinema forerunner”.
• Lord George Sanger’s Grade II-listed menagerie cages dating back to the 1800s - believed to be the last remaining type of their kind.

On 1 August this year Thanet’s Cabinet agreed to authorise a general vesting declaration. The council accepted that this would have unravelled had the appeal succeeded.