Image: Dreamland will become a major new attraction

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has approved Thanet District Council's (TDC) plans to serve a compulsory purchase order on the owner of Margate's Dreamland site.

The local authority is looking to secure the land in order to move forward with the proposed development of the world's first heritage amusement park of historic rides and attractions.

TDC will now work to assume control of the land before access to the site can be granted - a move that will open up a funding package worth more than £10m to deliver the scheme.

Council leader Clive Hart said: "This is a key step to unlocking the regeneration of the Dreamland site and means we can start to move in the right direction."

Dreamland Trust chair Nick Laister added: "With our funding in place and our plans drawn up, today's news is hopefully the final major hurdle that we will have to cross."

It is hoped the first stage of the project will be complete by Easter 2014.

Click here for more details about the communities secretary's decision.

For more about the continuing leisure-led regeneration of Margate, read the 2010-11 Attractions Management Handbook, p.66