A taste of things to come as café takes shape - 18th Feb 2015
Great progress has been made on the construction of the new permanent café in Hotham Park.
The new building is taking shape and can be clearly seen as a new landmark in the Bognor Regis park.
When open, the café will offer a range of home-made cakes, hot drinks, freshly baked pizza, ice creams and light meals, with an emphasis on locally sourced produce. It is anticipated the café will be open in June ready for the summer season.
Cllr Mrs Gillian Brown, Leader of Arun District Council, said: “I am delighted with the progress that is being made with the construction of the Hotham Park café. Once open, the café will no doubt prove popular with visitors and residents alike and draw people from Bognor Regis and beyond to Hotham Park.”
Tom Barnes owner of the popular Lobster Pot café, Felpham, has been chosen to run the café after a competitive tendering process in October. He has started to recruit key staff ready for the planned opening. They intend the café to be open every day and some evenings too, assuming suitable exterior lighting is in place to provide a safe route from the Lodge Car Park in Hotham Park to the café during the dark evenings.
A lighting scheme has been designed to create a safe pedestrian route from the car park to the café. The design is sympathetic to the park’s heritage and minimises the impact on wildlife and local properties by minimising the spread of light into areas adjacent to the path.
Lighting will come on automatically as darkness falls and be timed to switch off around 10.30pm -11pm. There are also a few uplighters to highlight specimen trees along the route, and lighting within the House Clock Tower to show off the architectural splendour.
The lighting has the additional benefit of making the park safer during darker evenings; many students from the adjacent University of Chichester’s Bognor Campus use the park as a cut-through. It should also help reduce anti-social behaviour in the park.
Cllr Mrs Brown added: “The Council’s vision for the park is to be a key attraction for Bognor Regis. The café and the lighting will encourage more people to use this truly wonderful park for longer periods of time.”