Decision due on new Worthing cafe for Brooklands Park

Councillors will discuss plans to reduce the scale of the proposed Brooklands Park café, with more cycle spaces in tow and an outside seating area.
Proposed new Worthing cafe in Brooklands ParkProposed new Worthing cafe in Brooklands Park
Proposed new Worthing cafe in Brooklands Park

Permission was granted in May 2020 to demolish existing toilets and replace them with a café, new toilets, a play area and bike storage (AWDM/0266/20).

But new proposals would see the café reduced in size by 50 square metres and redesigned, with 24 cycle parking spaces.

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The café has been described as a key element of the £3 million Brooklands Park Masterplan which is set to transform the park.

Proposed new cafe in Brooklands Park, WorthingProposed new cafe in Brooklands Park, Worthing
Proposed new cafe in Brooklands Park, Worthing

Previously, the café designs showed a larger, 365 square metre timber building divided into three sections.

The new café would still be clad in timber with a flat roof, glazed doors and a decked outside seating area.

Three public toilets would share the building, with one being a Changing Places toilet (fully accessible).

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New plans would not affect the approved play area which is part of the masterplan.

More cost effective

In July this year, discussions took place to try to make the designs more ‘cost effective’.

The original café would have exceeded the project budget and leasing it would fail to cover construction costs within 40 years.

Council officers were also of the opinion that the 365 square foot café would ‘draw attention from the overall park and open space project’.

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The local highways authority welcomed an additional eight cycle parking spaces, which it says would ‘increase opportunities for sustainable

travel to and from the site’.

It is thought that 70 per cent of visitors drive to visit the park with the remainder either walking, cycling or using ‘other sustainable transport’.

The café won’t be leased out until details for more than 50 electric vehicle spaces are submitted.

Council officers have recommended the ‘more low key’ plans for approval saying they would ‘remain appropriate to the park setting, but would still attract users into the park’.

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Planning conditions surrounding flood risk, tree protection, sustainability, parking and highways issues would be carried over from the previously approved café.

The revised café design will be discussed at Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday (November 24) and more details can be found on the planning portal using reference: AWDM/1843/21.