Council wants YOU to take on cafes at three Stoke-on-Trent parks after sudden closures
The search to find businesses to take on cafes at three Stoke-on-Trent parks is underway - with the council urging entrepreneurs to make them an offer.
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) announced last month that it would pull out of running the visitor centre and cafe at Westport Lake at the end of September, as it could not operate the site profitably.
Meanwhile, Hanley Park's pavilion cafe closed in February 2023, three years after it opened as part of a £4.5 million Lottery-funded restoration of the park, after operator Caterleisure pulled out of the venue.
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READ: Two mothballed Stoke-on-Trent park cafes show no signs of reopening as third closes The facilities at Hanley Park and Park Hall Country Park remain shut, as the visitor centre at Westport Lake is also set to close
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And Café Indi at The Pavilion - inside Burslem Park - closed its doors in May. Now Stoke-on-Trent City Council is launching tenders to find new operators for all three sites.
In a video on social media, council leader Jane Ashworth urged people to make the council an offer. She said: "Westport Lake Visitor Centre is out to tender. The right to run the cafe as a community enterprise, as a small business, we're open to offers.
"What this city needs is Westport Lake cafe to be a vibrant place where you can go after you've been for a walk around the lake, where you can go if you've been hiring one of the bikes or if you just fancy somewhere to go and something to do. There's a great children's play area that's all free.
"This cafe could be magnificent. It's up to you if you want to run it whether you open it at 10am or 8am, it's up to you what time you finish at night. At the moment it shuts at 3.30p,m, maybe it should be something like 8pm.
"You come to us with a good idea and we'll evaluate it. What we're looking for is making sure that people in the city get value for money and a great service.
"But it's not only here, it is also Burslem Park Pavilion, that's available for tender as well. Coming very soon too is the tender specification for Hanley Park. Again, another fantastic opportunity for somebody who really knows how to make somewhere buzz. Cafes, restaurants, you come to us with an offer and we'll see if it's good value and a good thing for the community. "
Details on Butters John Bee show the council is looking for £21,000 per annum to run Westport Lake visitor centre.
However, some residents suggested the council should let charities run them for free. One wrote: "Why don't you let the communities/charities run them for free? Maybe take a % of every sale. Surely need to think outside the box to revive this city. Same old failed ideas, empty dilapidated buildings everywhere, targets for arsonists. Get people in them, get them in use, get places thriving!
"People aren't going to buy or rent buildings in a city that is basically falling apart and overflowing with litter."
Another added: "Sadly way too much for any new business to go in - £21,000 is totally unrealistic for a seasonal business on top of food supplies, business rates, electric. This is why the high streets are also dying. Not that people are not using them, it's because the rents are ridiculous in Stoke-on-Trent.
"Until these are capped to realistic prices where new businesses (and we have tons that do these Artisan markets that would love a secure base) can afford to take the chance they will just be left empty! Better to make it affordable and have long-term tenants than charging and nobody using it and it goes into rack and ruin!"
Another residents suggested the parking charges at Westport Lake were the main issue. They said: "Get rid of the car park charges this will increase footfall. A lot of people are struggling as it is without being charged to park on these places. I thought our council tax paid for the upkeep of these places yet you still charge to park there."