Clumber Park’s café and ice cream parlour could be in for a significant revamp to help improve the popular site for visitors and staff.
The Grade I listed country park and garden, near Worksop, is run by the National Trust.
Originally home to the Dukes of Newcastle, the site and its 3,800 acres of parkland are popular among visitors from Nottinghamshire and beyond.
However, the National Trust says its café, tea room, and kitchen area have “seen a lack of investment and do not meet visitors’ expectations”.
The Trust has submitted a number of planning applications to Bassetlaw District Council to give these areas a complete revamp.
The café can currently host 130 people inside, with an additional 150 in an outdoor area. The plans aim to improve this, considering the expected visitor projections.
Planning documents from the National Trust say: “The main café serves the majority of visitors, so improvements to the counter and equipment would set a better first impression and improve speed of service, therefore reducing queue time and length.
“The current entrance has a single-leaf door and, once through this door, visitors are met with a difficult dog-leg, and often a bottleneck of visitors looking at what is on offer in the display cabinets.
“It is proposed the double doors adjacent to the current entrance doors are re-opened and a new, wider door set installed into them that is compliant for wheelchair users.
“Once into this new lobby, an opening that has previously been plasterboarded over will be re-opened, and the area will be renovated so that this will form the new entrance into the café. This area will be free and uncluttered so visitors can more easily enter the building.
“It is hoped there will be higher staff retention levels, reduced absence, improved staff survey results, better engagement, and further scope for training and development of the team.
“As Clumber Park’s food and beverage operation is one of the highest performing within the Trust, it has the opportunity to become a regional centre of excellence and a flagship for the Trust.”
The Trust says it is also proposed that nine solar panels be put up to decrease the energy bills and carbon footprint of the site.
Under the plans, the Trust says the kitchen will be expanded into a “full production kitchen” – using an area currently inhabited by an ice cream parlour.
A separate planning application, which has already been approved, will see the ice cream parlour moved to a Grade II listed stable block.
The stables are currently used by the Trust as office space, but required listed building consent for the conversion.
The Trust says it is hoped the plans will allow for soft-scoop ice cream, which has been popular, to be offered year-round once the new parlour opens.
