The end to the legal battle over the future of Dreamland is the latest in a series of good news stories for Margate, as the town continues its economic comeback.

The Court of Appeal in London was where the latest chapter in Margate’s remarkable regeneration story opened last month.

As it dismissed the final legal challenge against Thanet District Council’s compulsorary purchase of Dreamland, surveyors and architects from the Dreamland Trust moved in to the long-dormant site.

The aim is to have the park open again as a heritage amusement attraction by Easter 2015, 10 years after it last welcomed the public.

It will be the latest step in the transformation of a seaside town many dismissed as in terminal decline since the early 1990s.

“Dreamland is going to play a huge role in economic regeneration,” said Dreamland Trust chairman Nick Laister.

“You can see the success of Turner Contemporary when that opened. If you open Dreamland on the opposite end of the seafront I would like the two to work together along with the other businesses and attractions in Margate and make a real difference.

“They are almost like bookends at each end of the seafront and when both are in place, then Margate will benefit dramatically from it.”

Few would argue that Margate’s regeneration began in earnest in April 2011, with the opening of the Turner Contemporary.

The gallery has generated £21.1 million for the local economy since it opened and supports 130 jobs in the gallery and across the community. So far it has brought a £6 return on every £1 invested.

Director Victoria Pomery said: “The opening of the gallery has seen a boost to business in Margate’s lower High Street and Old Town and an increase in private sector investment.

“Over the past few months, eight new shops and businesses have opened up in the High Street alone.

"We know of at least 35 new businesses that have opened on the back of Turner Contemporary and there is a much greater sense of civic pride in the town.”

Indeed, it feels like it’s been a long time since a negative business news story came out of Margate.

In September plans were announced for a 60-bedroom hotel and 18-apartment scheme, dubbed the Rendezvous – next to the Turner Contemporary – designed by Guy Hollaway Architects, which is also working on the Dreamland project.

The Queen boosted spirits on a visit in 2011 and the New York Times was so impressed with what is going on it ran an editorial on tourism in the town in its magazine last month.

Yet it is not just the major projects spearheading Margate’s economic comeback. When visitors are finished at the gallery, many wander around the Old Town, with vintage shops, a market and real ale drinking holes.

A popular spot is the Cupcake Cafe, set up by Lisa Hemingway four years ago. She said: “Most people come to Margate and say ‘I didn’t know about this little area, isn’t it nice?’ They generally follow that by saying ‘it’s a shame about the rest of the town’.

“But it’s all very positive at the moment for us. We are growing and going in the right direction. The footfall here now is 10 times what it was three years ago.

“The gallery has made a massive difference and people are coming in to open businesses as they see there’s an opportunity.

“They are great for different customers. Slightly older people and students come to have a look at the proper paintings but if the next exhibition is a bit out there, we get different people. There’s a big sense of positivity and being proud of what we are doing.”

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If it wasn’t for Nick Laister, there might not be a Dreamland project.

The Oxfordshire-based amusement parks consultant was first linked with Margate in 2001 when he suggested to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that the Scenic Railway be listed.

English Heritage agreed and listed it in 2002.

A few months later, Dreamland’s owner Jimmy Godden decided he would close it and turn it into retail and commercial space with some housing and a small amusement park. He sold the site to Margate Town Centre Regeneration Company in 2005 for £20m.

Yet the railway’s new status meant demolishing it would be a crime, even after it suffered an arson attack in 2008.

Mr Laister was contacted by people across Margate who remembered his efforts to protect the Scenic Railway and he agreed to front the Save Dreamland Campaign.

He said: “I didn’t realise I would have much more involvement in Dreamland. I had no idea how many people would be so interested and felt Dreamland was so important to Margate.

“I’m 99% sure that if the Scenic Railway had not been listed in 2002, it would not have been standing in 2003.

“Leading the campaign and chairing the Dreamland Trust seemed like the right thing to do. I started this process rolling and I just felt like I wanted to see this through.”