NEWS
A restaurateur’s offer to rebuild the New Farm Summer House kiosk in its original form and on its former site at his expense has been rejected, with City Council releasing plans for a separate cafe on the river.
Glen Boyle lost a protracted legal battle with council to build a function centre on the same spot where his popular kiosk (pictured below) burnt down just over a decade ago. The size of the scheme upset many local residents, but after his legal battle was lost Mr Boyle offered to rebuild the kiosk to its original design. That offer was backed by Central Ward councillor David Hinchliffe who urged council to let Mr Boyle rebuild.
But Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced that the old ferry building at the southern end of the park next to the New Farm ferry terminal will be transformed into a cafe “offering indoor and outdoor dining and water views” (above). A second affiliated coffee hut would operated from “near the site” of the original New Farm Park Summer House, which burnt down in 2000.
The Independent understands Mr Boyle, who had his lease cancelled recently, will have to tender for the lease of the outlets in due course.
Cr Schrinner said using the old ferry building would allow council to fill the need for a permanent, seated eatery servicing New Farm Park while also ensuring precious green space was not lost.
“This is not only a major win for the 17,000 visitors to New Farm Park each week, but also the 250,000 commuters that catch a CityCat ferry from this spot each year,” Cr Schrinner said.
But a defiant Mr Boyle vowed to fight on, saying of the new cafe plan: “We are a river city and more facilities should be made available to enjoy the river views; however this is not New Farm Park. Tell it like it is. New Farm gets another cafe, not the park.
“I have over 12,000 residents signed [to my petition] already and I’ll continue until council start to listen to the community.
“Every parent who takes their children to the playground will tell you there is no way they would walk all the way over to a cafe outside the park.”
A bewildered Mr Boyle said his original rebuild plans followed exactly what council had requested. The recent termination of his lease was equally mystifying and very unfair.
“In 11 years I never received one notice saying I was in breach of my lease. It defies logic to remove the kiosk and replace it with another. The agreement I had in place with council was that the kiosk would operate on a month-to-month basis until a new building was built. I have stood by my commitment. Council has not.”
Cr Schrinner said tenders to build and operate both the café and the coffee hut would be advertised within coming months and all parties were welcome to submit their proposal.
“In the meantime a temporary kiosk will be set up to ensure food and drink services are available while the new café and coffee hut are being built,” Cr Schrinner said.
“I think the proposal for a cafe and separate coffee hut will ensure residents, visitors and commuters all have easy access to quality food and drink while down at New Farm Park.”
