An artists depiction of what the site was going to look like
Pleasurama developers still not served with work schedule order
NOTICE of work to be carried out at the former Pleasurama site in Ramsgate has still not been served on the developers – more than three months after Thanet council agreed to do so.
On February 20 this year the Labour cabinet voted to adopt the recommendations of the overview and scrutiny panel to terminate the development agreement for the Ramsgate seafront site.
But it was agreed developer SFP would get one final chance by being served a schedule of works drawn up by council experts.
The timetable has been drawn up by Thanet council but it is yet to hand it to SFP, according to an email seen by the Thanet Gazette.
The delay has been blamed on a change of staff in TDC’s property department. The timetable is now with legal firm Pinsent Masons which is due to serve it on SFP.
Planning permission for a 60-bed hotel with 107 apartments, cafes and shops was granted by Thanet council in 2004.
The authority first signed an agreement with SFP in 2006 but the project was plagued by delays. The site has lain derelict for more than a decade.
A new agreement was signed with SFP in 2009 allowing the firm to drop a bond payment to TDC from £5.6 million to £1.6 million.
SFP, which holds three 199-year leases for the site, wanted more changes, saying funding for the £25 million project would not be released to them until backers were happy with the legal deal.
But Thanet council finally lost patience in February, under pressure from groups such as the Friends of Ramsgate Sea front and Green councillor Ian Driver, and voted order SFP to adhere to the schedule.
Cllr Driver said he was dismayed the timetable still hasn’t been served.
