Memorial Park to get new ice cream parlour and bistro as part of £300k cafes revamp

[dutchman]

Two popular cafes in Coventry’s War Memorial Park will be transformed as part of a £300,000 investment that will create between 20 and 25 part-time jobs



City-based No Ordinary Hospitality Management (NOHM) has taken over the two eateries and plans to complete the revamp by early summer ahead of Radio 1’s One Big Weekend.

The company, which owns a host of venues and attractions in the area, will create a new ice cream kiosk in the centre of the park by repurposing a current storage unit.

The cafe adjacent to Kenilworth Road will become a bistro operating from 9am, through to early evening offering light lunches, afternoon tea and suppers.

The current cafe in the visitor centre will become The Sundae Club, a 50s-inspired dessert diner. NOHM opened the first Sundae Club at Coombe Abbey Park, as part of its development of the site and it has proved highly successful.

Ron Terry from NOHM, said the plans would significantly widen the food and drink options available to park users.

“The War Memorial Park is a wonderful place for local people and visitors and is a hive of activity throughout the year.

“People visit for a huge variety of reasons – sport, recreation, exercise, family time, dog walking, meeting up with friends – we want food and drink available to them to reflect that diversity and we have devised an offer that will have a very broad appeal.

“We are very aware that the park is a much-loved resource, so while we want to improve the quality and choice available to everyone and to help attract more people to visit, we will do it in a way which benefits the area and its users, whilst respecting its history.”

The Sundae Club at Coombe Abbey Park opened just before Christmas and has been really well received by everyone who has visited. NOHM believes the concept will fit the park perfectly.

Ron added: “We have met with the Friends of the War Memorial Park and talked through our plans, and we will continue to liaise with them while we undertake the work, and then going forward.”

The 12-acre War Memorial Park was opened in July 1921 as a tribute to the 2,587 Coventrians who died between 1914 and 1918 fighting in the First World War.

It boasts 10 floodlit tennis courts, 12 football pitches, flat green bowling, an 18-hole FootGolf course, a cricket pitch, and skate park.

Visit https://www.instagram.com/the_sundae_club/ to find out more about The Sundae Club.

[dutchman]

...will create between 20 and 25 part-time jobs

Isn't this just privatising existing city council jobs?

[dutchman]

New bistro and ice cream parlour in Coventry will be allowed to sell booze in park, despite outcry



Cafes set to open in War Memorial Park this summer can serve four kinds of booze but no "hard spirits", Coventry council has agreed. Customers at a new bistro and ice-cream parlour will be able to enjoy a glass of Prosecco, red or white wine or a bottle of beer with their food.

But they won't be able to have anything stronger, a council licensing committee decided this morning (27 May). The revamped cafes must "not sell anything not mentioned in the application, by way of hard spirits," the committee said.

Councillors granted booze licences to the revamped cafes despite opposition from the Friends of War Memorial Park. The Friends raised fears of crime, anti-social behaviour and public urination in a written objection to the plans, which sparked the hearing.

The park is covered by a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) relating to drinking, they pointed out. And as a tribute to the city's war dead it is even more important to crack down on anti-social behaviour here, they argued.

But by the meeting today some of the key details they had objected to had been dealt with. Park toilets will be open for as long as the venues, the applicant confirmed, quelling fears of drunken toilet trips in the bushes.

Yet this crucial point was only agreed with the council out two weeks ago and the Friends criticised the waste of time brought about by the delay. Customers will only be able to get alcohol if they're also ordering food to go with it - be it a light lunch or a chocolate-smothered waffle - the meeting heard.

Just four types of booze will be on offer and both outlets will close at 5pm in the winter months. These were also new details not in the original application.

On the other hand, the Friends' concerns over how this would affect enforcement of the park's PSPO appeared to be unfounded. A council officer explained that the by-law doesn't ban consuming booze in public, but makes it a crime to ignore police requests to stop drinking.

It means that park picnic-goers can enjoy an alcoholic beverage as long as they aren't told off by officers. The committee also decided that the applicants had done enough to combat potential crime or disorder.

When granting the licence they stressed that this can be reviewed or revoked at any time - so if there's trouble with drunken disorder in future both cafes could lose their right to sell booze.

[dutchman]

I visited the park quite often in my youth and very seldom remember the café ever being open?

Likewise the other park attractions such as the donkey rides, crazy golf and miniature railway.

[dutchman]

Coventry park visitors outraged as popular cafes stop cash payments



A decision by two Coventry cafes to only accept card payments has been met with a backlash from customers. Coventry City Council-owned venues The Park Bistro and The Sundae Club in War Memorial Park opened three months ago after a £400,000 makeover.

Both are "cashless" and operators No Ordinary Hospitality Management say this is due to "efficiency and safety." But Coventry residents have slammed the move, including regular park visitor Craig who says it will put potential customers off.

"People won't use them," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). "A lot of old people are fairly upset about it, kids as well."

While visiting one of the cafes in August, Craig watched as two kids and eight older people were not served due to the policy.

"I don't know where they went. One of them was quite vocal about it," he said. "We shouldn't be told what we can and can't pay with."

He now takes his children to other outlets when using the park. Coventry resident Rob Foskett is also avoiding the new cafes because of the policy.

He told the LDRS: "I like to be in control of what cash I have and using it makes you realise what you have. Talking to a young lad recently he went away for the weekend and used his card.

"He was horrified to find out he had spent nearly £500. So for me it is not a good thing and I feel many will just go into debt without realising. Cash is easier to control for me."

Rob also pointed out that businesses can lose significant income if their card machines fail and they don't accept other forms of payment. Facebook threads attracted more than 85 comments with several branding the changes "ridiculous" and "a joke."

One commentor wrote: "When I was there there was children teenagers with only cash couldn’t buy anything shame really as not everyone has card. I got them a drink."

Another added: "I know some children came running back to their grandmother the other day as she had given them money for an ice cream which they now couldn’t buy." A NOHM spokesperson said: "We operate a cashless policy across all our public-facing businesses, including Coombe Abbey Park, due to efficiencies and safety, in terms of handling cash.

"People have, by and large, accepted that policy and, if necessary, made adjustments and we appreciate that understanding."

[rebbonk]

A NOHM spokesperson said: "We operate a cashless policy across all our public-facing businesses, including Coombe Abbey Park, due to efficiencies and safety, in terms of handling cash.

"People have, by and large, accepted that policy and, if necessary, made adjustments and we appreciate that understanding."

Spokesman is a complete tool. Businesses deliver what the customer wants or they don't stay in business very long.

A look into No Ordinary Hospitality Management is rather interesting.