EDEN PROJECT CAFÉ IN BRIEF THE CAFÉ OFFERS:
■ Seasonal, local food ■ Free Wi-Fi ■ A produce swap enabling customers to sell their fruit and veg to the café at the daily wholesale price
■ A book swap ■ Late night opening, with entertainment ranging from live music to theatre
■ Exhibition space for arts ■ Meeting space for local community groups
■ Shop area selling Eden products, from seeds to fresh produce
■ Eden seasonal activities, such as den building in the summer
The café runs a book swap scheme, where customers can exchange books and leave reviews
comes from down to the last mush- room. The menu comprises mainly breakfasts, paninis, a salad bar, snacks and a great range of cakes. One dish which exceeded expectations was the fi shfi nger sandwich. Served on a wooden platter, this consisted of six goujons, fresh bread, home- made tartare sauce and mushy peas. It was all delicious, fresh and at £3.95 incredibly reasonable – affordability is another key feature. So what are the operators hop- ing the café will bring to the town? “Footfall, mainly,” says Thompson, “but hopefully this, combined with The Beach [Commercial Estates Group's plans] and the eco towns will help to uplift and regenerate St Austell.” Let’s hope so. Already the café has persuaded me into St Austell for shopping that I might otherwise have
ISSUE 2 2011 © cybertrek 2010
chosen to do in nearby Truro. Although early days, the Eden Project Café appears to have been embraced by locals, who feel like their town might be starting to get back on its feet.
THE ECO TOWN
A planning application was submitted in March for the fi rst phase of a long term £1bn project to create six eco communities on former industrial land around St Austell, owned by Imerys Minerals, which runs the china clay operations. The company behind it, Eco-Bos, is a joint venture between the Swiss-based Orascom Development Holidays and Imerys. The fi rst town will include 2,000 homes built to high green specifi ca- tions, some local shops, community facilities and offi ce space. Over 10 hectares will be given over to allot-
ments and space may even be made available for livestock. Since the devel- opment is not allowed to detract from what is available in St Austell, leisure doesn’t feature too highly in the plans. However, what the scheme does intend to offer is outdoor recreation space for exercise and play: there will be 232 hectares (573 acres) of open space and recreation area, including four outdoor sports pitches, and a 25km network of walkways, cycle trails and bridleways, which will connect the town to St Austell town centre and Eden. The idea of adding extreme sports facilities is also being considered. At a later date there are plans to
turn Par Docks into a buzzing marina, with associated cafés and restaurants. The idea of a cable car connecting this to the town and the eco village is cur- rently being evaluated. ●
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 59
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76