Victoria Park set for major revamp
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PLANS for a £500,000 overhaul of Newbury’s Victoria Park have been given the go-ahead, after a series of delays.
Following West Berkshire Council approval last Thursday, a new community café will be built on the park, together with indoor and outdoor seating areas, catering facilities, public toilets, office space and storage for the boating lake.
The Newbury Town Council-led development, which was first revealed in July 2014, will replace the existing café kiosk and storeroom.
The plans for the redevelopment stalled in November after concerns from the Environment Agency, which was concerned about the site sitting on a flood plain.
Amendments were made, raising the height of part of the project by 300mm, which led to the EA withdrawing its objection.
Other changes included scrapping the changing facilities.
Newbury Town councillor Howard Bairstow, said there was a lot of construction work to do and that next summer was a “reasonable guess” for its completion date.
He said: “The current café is due for renewal and it is well past its sell-by date.
“We are obviously disappointed with the Environment Agency requirements, which has cost us an enormous amount of money and reductions to some of the facilities, but it is still a worthwhile project.”
Services manager for Newbury Town Council, Granville Taylor, was unable to confirm an exact date for completion because of the impact of the new conditions and said that any impact on the final build and related costs needed to be reviewed.
He said: “As yet we cannot accurately predict a start and completion date, until we have had the opportunity to consider the implications of these conditions.
“The new café will provide a much-needed all-year-round catering facility and encourage visitors to spend more time in the park.
“It will replace the outdated kiosk, which only operates between March and October, with a limited outdoor seating provision.
“As can be seen from the artist’s impression, the café will be light and airy offering great views across the park.
“There will be separate storage for pedalos, kayaks and seating for musical events at the bandstand, as well as an office for the park ranger, visiting neighbourhood wardens and Pcsos.
“Newbury Town Council are really excited about the project and see it becoming the jewel in the crown of Victoria Park.”
The total cost of the project is around £500,000, according to the town council, half of which will be provided by Greenham Common Trust and the remainder through a public works loan – and interest payments will be covered by commercial businesses appointed to operate within the café.
Once it is completed, the development will feature 10 tables and 40 seats indoors; 11 tables and 44 seats outdoors and three toilet facilities; and will operate all year round between the hours of 9am and 6pm.
According to council officers, the design of the new building would be “contemporary in style with large areas of glazing and timber-clad walls and pressed metal canopy, with flat roof and photo voltaic cells”.
The building will be 3.94metres in height, and the exterior seating, wrapping around the eastern side of the building would be on a raised deck area 300mm above the existing ground level.
The total internal area of the cafe will be 143.7 sq m.
The proposal includes a boat store that has been designed to have a floodable area, new cycle racks, permeable surface areas and new indigenous landscape areas close to the main footpath.
Council officers said the new building “will sit comfortably into the park setting” and also “provides an opportunity for the provision of bio-diversity mitigation and enhancement”.
