Torbay Coast & Countryside Trust (TCCT) are thrilled to announce that planned refurbishment work on Occombe Farm Café is now underway. Work has begun on an extensive schedule of redecoration and refurbishment of the café. Unfortunately, with contractors operating on site, Occombe Farm will need to remain closed for a little longer until the building work is finished.
Damian Offer, Chief Executive, Torbay Coast & Countryside Trust said:
“We are delighted to be getting on with the refurbishment of the café, which we have been planning since 2017. Although this means that we are unable to reopen this weekend, the enforced closure due to Coronavirus, has given us the opportunity to undertake this major overhaul. We decided it made sense to undertake these building works before re-opening post-lockdown, rather than having to close again later in the year.”
Work on the café started three weeks ago. We are building an extension on the south side, increasing the café’s capacity and expanding floor space, which will help us accommodate customers with canine companions. The kitchen space will be reconfigured to improve efficiency and new toilet facilities are included. Front of house will get a refresh too with new counter and new displays for food and drinks. Initially, the increased floor space will enable us to operate within COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. There will be potential to add more seating when we can return to more normal operations.
It is hoped that all building work will be completed by mid-September and both the café and farm will be able to reopen at the same time.
Sue Gillion, Occombe Farm Café Manager, said:
“We anticipate that a lot of our regular visitors will be disappointed that we will be closed over the summer holidays but we can’t wait to see everyone again when we re-open in September. We’ll have some new menu options but all the Occombe favourites will feature too”.
Occombe Farm was originally set up to provide a base for TCCT’s farming operation. In 2005, the farm shop and café were added to provide a local food hub and generate revenue to fund our charitable work caring for Torbay’s natural heritage. All the profits from Occombe Farm Café go towards the Trust’s work across Torbay including keeping footpaths open for all, looking after the stunning gardens and parkland at Cockington, safeguarding the National Nature Reserve at Berry Head and caring for many other special places. Every penny you spend helps TCCT to care for and protect all of these lovely places.
ENDS
For more information about this Press Release, please contact: Sarah James 01803 520 022 sarah.james@countryside-trust.org.uk
Notes:
Torbay Coast & Countryside Trust (TCCT)
An independent charity dedicated to looking after Torbay’s most important wildlife and heritage sites, including Berry Head National Nature Reserve, Cockington Country Park, Occombe Farm, the South West Coast Path and the English Riviera Geopark. For more information about Torbay Coast & Countryside Trust visit www.countryside-trust.org.uk
Occombe Farm Regeneration Plan
The refurbishment of the café is a precursor to the regeneration of Occombe Farm, which the Trusts hopes to begin later in 2020. The regenerated Occombe Farm will incorporate a mix of indoor and outdoor play and activities alongside a much larger farm shop and flexible activity space with new rental units; providing a year-round destination. We want to regenerate Occombe Farm in order to:
- To deliver significant positive benefits for both the Trust and Torbay…
- Generate additional revenue for the Trust to: replace reductions in other funding; enable the Trust to better maintain and improve Torbay’s natural environment for the benefit of all;
- Provide a great new destination for local people and visitors, a local food hub, year-round play facility and quality eatery;
- Address a gap in Torbay’s visitor offer by providing a farm-based visitor attraction and thus encourage more people to visit, stay and spend in Torbay;
- Provide new and improved educational opportunities for the Trust to teach more local school children about the natural world, food and farming, sustainability and Torbay’s unique natural heritage;
- To create the equivalent of up to 54 new full-time jobs at Occombe;
- Allow the Trust to provide more varied and better-supported volunteering opportunities
We are fundraising to make the Occombe Regeneration Project happen. If you would like to contribute or help us raise money, we would really like to hear from you. For more information about our plans for Occombe, please visit our website: https://www.countryside-trust.org.uk/occombe-farm-plans/ or email us info@countryside-trust.org.uk
