Plans for cafe and visitor centre submitted for beauty spot

Council chiefs signed off £520,000 last year for the new facilities at Pickering's Pasture in Widnes, with an official planning application having now been put in.

The scheme would see an existing portable cabin on the site demolished to make way for a single-storey building incorporating a café, meeting room, toilets and staff rooms.

First opened in the mid 80s, the Green Flag Award-winning reserve on Mersey View Road is one of the council’s busiest public parks and a popular destination for walkers and families.

The portable cabin at the site had been operated by volunteers from the Friends of Pickering's Pasture group and occasionally hosted a pop up café, but was classed as being badly outdated. A plan to construct new facilities had been under discussion for several years but had to be put on ice due to the pandemic.

The existing ranger cabin at Pickering's Pasture would be demolished. Image from planning docs. (Image: Planning docs)

A planning document submitted in support of the new scheme said the café space would serve as the entrance to the building for visitors providing an 'open, welcoming environment' in which to enjoy the surroundings prior to or after exploring the wider Pickering’s Pasture site.

The report said: "The proposed development will make effective use of previously developed land by improving facilities to better meet the needs of visitors and staff to the site. The proposed development aims to secure the future of the site as a visitor destination."

The plans include a staff workshop accessible separately from the main café space providing facilities for staff. The meeting room would provide facilities for the visitor centre, to accommodate both staff and visitors. The new building would have black cladding with large windows and solar panels on part of the roof.

The report said the outlined proposal has been designed to be a 'modern yet sensitive addition' to the surrounding landscape and provide facilities for visitors and staff to enjoy the site as a destination.

It added: "The design aims to enhance the setting and promote a space in which the local community and visitors can be active through walking."

The council's ruling executive board signed off on the money last year, stating at the time it would hope to finance the move by applying to the Ineos Environment Fund to recoup the cash at a rate of £87,500 a year over seven years.