New cafe at Brooklands Park in Worthing has licence approved

The licence is for opening and sale of alcohol hours for the new operators of the cafe, Mr and Ms Hilton and will allow opening from 7am to 11pm and sale of alcohol from 11am to 10:30pm – although Mr Hilton said they would not regularly operate past 6pm except for special events.

The cafe is part of a £3 million scheme to improve Brooklands Park in Western Road, including new play areas, fitness trails and equipment, picnic areas, oxygen generators to improve Brooklands Lake, and a 3.2ha site for a future leisure centre.

Existing public toilets will be replaced by the ‘sustainable’ Brooklands Park Cafe, a new changing place and public facilities.

Sussex Police consulted with the cafe operator’s to get CCTV and other preventative measures for anti-social behaviour included within the cafe as a part of the licence

Mr and Ms Hilton removed off sales from the application after this consultation, meaning all alcohol will be served and consumed on premises.

The Worthing based pair won a bid to lease the cafe building from the council and run it, last June, saying they wanted to create a space for the community, and contribute to the parks regeneration.

Two public objections were raised, stating concerns over anti-social behaviour and the loss of existing public toilets, with one saying the removal of off sales from the licence helped ease their concerns.

The operators stated the building would have space for 80-90 people, and new park toilet facilities would accommodate around 150.