Wayne Hemingway, the founder of fashion label Red Or Dead, pulled no punches when he spoke at the Tourism Symposium this month, a gathering of the great and good of the industry hosted by Visit Kent.

The creative designer behind Dreamland’s £1.8m restoration project now specialises in breathing new life into old concepts with a focus on affordable aspects of design.

He spoke in front of 150 delegates at the University of Kent ahead of the park’s warmly-received reopening on June 19, when hundreds of nostalgic seaside-goers walked through the doors.

“Culture has come to Margate,” he declared. “I am down here every two weeks and each time there is a new shop, café or boutique hotel opening.

“But these things take time – there is no quick fix. There needs to be a supporting council, the people’s backing – and to kick out Nigel Farage, which has been done.

“Margate needs good things to be happening. The high street still has a lot of problems, but so what if Woolworth’s is still empty? Do we want to fill it with another pic’n’mix? Why not wait for something better?

“We don’t need video shops, either. That’s the past. We need to forget about the past and close them. Yes, some jobs will be lost, but a new generation will come along and repurpose them. It may take five, 10 or 20 years, but it will happen. Don’t worry about it, human beings are very resourceful.”

Mr Hemingway highlighted the tsunami of publicity for Margate and its global reach.

Kent was recently named the top European destination for family days out by travel guide Lonely Planet, with Thanet’s resurgence playing a big part.

“Margate is on everyone’s lips,” said Mr Hemingway. “You can’t manufacture that. We are in the New York Times, across all of the international press – you can’t stop it.

“Turner Contemporary has done a massive amount for Kent. It was the start of the regeneration.

“It would have been very difficult for Dreamland to come back and be a success on its own, but Margate is on the lips of so many people.

“There is an interest in the British seaside scene and Margate has got a history of being east London’s playground – and a lot of people know east London has become the epicentre of cool.

“But what’s also going on is that property price increases are forcing creative people out. The nearest place to what they want, more space and somewhere grittier, is Margate.

Mr Hemingway and his team have been working to preserve the cultural heritage of the Dreamland project while bringing the attraction up to date for a modern audience.

He said: “We are not making a heritage theme park. When we bid for this, my team asked ‘What would we build if we happened to be in the seaside but wanted a forward-looking retro, vintage but cool and fiercely independent park?’

“The whole budget for Dreamland will be around about the same as Chessington or Thorpe Park spends on one ride. We were taken on for our creativity – we can make a silk purse out of sow’s backside.”

Cool but cheeky will clearly be theme. Mr Hemingway said: “The staff will be wearing badges with ‘Do you want sauce on it?’.

“It has to be cheeky Charlie, but it has to be cool and should say 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s – I can’t quite place it.

“The staff will be quirky –the more tattoos and piercings the better and if they scare Granny, then good. We want to appeal to a new, younger generation.”