THE two sides in the fight for Dreamland have outlined their cases to a Government inspector who will decide its future.

On one side is Thanet council, which issued a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the site after the owners, Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company, failed to put forward a development that could enable the re-opening of Dreamland as an amusement park.

Alongside the council is the Dreamland Trust, which was set up by campaigners to re-open the attraction.

Thanet council's planning projects manager Ashley Hills told the inquiry into the site's ownership that the Dreamland Trust's vision for the park fitted with the district's planning brief for the site to be predominately for leisure use.

Council heritage officer Nick Dermott spoke of Dreamland's "unique position in British cultural history" and how the owners had neglected maintenance and several orders to carry out urgent repairs to the listed cinema and Scenic Railway.

But representing the owners, Richard Glover QC said: "Thanet council's ill-judged proposals represent the wasting of a piece of land that is important to the regeneration of Margate.

"One of the ironies of this case is that Thanet council talk of the need to regenerate, of the need for a step change to pull Margate out of the doldrums.

"Thanet council has not only hindered my clients over the years in their attempts to bring private development, but now proffer a case that tells the development industry that values in Margate will not increase."

Mr Glover and Christopher Boyle, the counsel for Close Brothers – the bank which is owed £6 million from a mortgage on the site and which is also against the CPO – described the trust's project as a "lame duck" and warned that under their plans the cinema would be "mothballed" without the cash to refurbish it.

The trust maintains that funding is in place for the first phase of redevelopment to open an amusement park with vintage rides.

It hopes with the support of Thanet council to attract private investment to deliver the rest of its vision, including the cinema.

The council's chief executive Sue McGonigal has written to the planning inspector to affirm the authority's support for Dreamland.

She said the council would be prepared to use "its prudential borrowing and other investment powers".

The inquiry is expected to run until Wednesday, January 25. A decision is expected in three to six months' time.