Call for rethink on siting of cafe in park

The issue of the location of the planned new café in Hotham Park was raised at Bognor Regis Town Council’s full meeting on Monday by chairman of the Bognor Regis Civic Society Laurie Barnes.

Speaking during public question time, Mr Barnes said: “We have a number of members of the Hotham Park Heritage Trust here tonight to voice their own opinions on its siting. The trust feels for a number of reasons that the place where the café is planned to go is the wrong location.

“The trust is not saying their ideas are 100 per cent right, but they do feel a different position for the café would be better.”

Mr Barnes said locating the new eatery Pistachios in the park opposite Hotham Park Lodge near to the front gate, or close to the main house opposite the toilets might be a better alternative.

The trust’s chairman Rosemary Warren pointed out the park was a very different place from when initial work into where the new café should be sited was carried out.

“It needs to be remembered that the decision for placing the café where Arun said it should go was made in 2007 and that was at the point when the regeneration was about to take place,” she said.

“At that point, the area was derelict therefore when they talked to people about where the new café should go you can see why that decision was made. But the park is completely different now.

“It should be a massive concern to all of us that children will be running freely around the area where the new café would be receiving deliveries.

Fears the café would suffer from a lack of trade in the winter months were also expressed.

Deputy town mayor Paul Wells said he thought the district council needed to ‘go back to the drawing board’. “Arun need to look outside the box as to where the café could go,” he said.

“They have already downgraded it from a destination restaurant venue. With the park as it is though I would like to see this go back to the drawing board.”

Cllr Jim Brooks agreed: “We should support a relook for several reasons. Space for when big events are held in the park is an issue as we saw from the diamond jubilee.”