An operating company is being sought for a £10m ($16.8m, €12.2m) heritage theme park in the UK which will bring together a collection of historic rides.

Thanet District Council took ownership of Margate’s Dreamland site – one of the country’s oldest amusement parks – last year and is pushing ahead with redevelopment plans.

The council now has funding in place to start work on a project to create the new park, and will meet on 1 May to discuss an open procurement process to identify a suitable candidate for operating it.

The original Dreamland closed in 2005 when the site was sold off by the then-owners for redevelopment into a retail and commercial complex, but a legal battle ensued, eventually resulting in the council taking ownership of the site.

Phase one of the plan will see the new park opening in April 2015, with a restored Scenic Railway at its centre. Vintage fairground rides, including a carousel and double-decker rocket cars, are also being restored and returned to the park.

The redevelopment project has so far been funded by a £3m ($5m, €3.65m) grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as £3.7m ($6.2m, €4.5m) funding from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport and £4m ($6.7m, €4.87m) from Thanet District Council itself.

Hemingway Design has been appointed to draw up the new Dreamland.