Hunt is on for new tourist attraction for Bournemouth (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Council calls for bids to open new butterfly farm in Bournemouth
12:00pm Tuesday 29th January 2013 in News By Melanie Vass
Could this space soon be a butterfly farm?
OPERATORS of zoological or botanical attractions are being invited to submit proposals for a new facility at Durley Chine.
Bournemouth council is keen to see a small-scale tourist attraction built on land behind the Durley Inn and is now inviting potential operators to bid for the rights to build and run it.
The attraction could not be any kind of aquarium as Bournemouth Oceanarium has an exclusive contract for Bournemouth seafront and is more likely to be a butterfly farm or something similar.
Cllr Rod Cooper, cabinet member for tourism, has previously expressed a desire to see a butterfly farm in the town, claiming it would be an ideal wet-weather attraction.
Last year, he told councillors they had already received expressions of interest from two potential operators with nearly 50 years experience of installing and operating butterfly farms.
And he added: “They believe that they will create, in their words, a ‘phenomenal farm to rival any in the world.’”
Bournemouth council would not make any financial contribution to the development and would expect to receive rent from any future attraction operators.
It is proposed the new attraction could be accompanied by a small local children’s playground and the Site of Special Scientific Interest Land to the north and east of the attraction could be grazed by goats.
But any new operator would only be allowed to include a very small catering offer within the attraction so as not to compete with the two catering facilities already at Durley Chine.
Comments(18)
l'anglais
says...
12:44pm Tue 29 Jan 13
An all year round attraction, I hope.
Blackpool would place a bouncy castle in this sought of space.
kingstonpaul
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12:55pm Tue 29 Jan 13
A butterfly farm would have such niche appeal, it won't attract lots of visitors, and as such it should be 100% funded by private sponsors.
The economic return in terms of jobs and additional output, if there is any, will be miniscule.
Bournemouth needs a bigger, and much more imaginative, idea that this. How about just an urban farm at Durley? At least it's cheap to develop and has some chance of bringing in families.
RED LETTER DAY
says...
1:01pm Tue 29 Jan 13
bournenbred
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1:29pm Tue 29 Jan 13
A zoological attraction will bring in a lot more Hen and Stag parties :-)
woby_tide
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1:30pm Tue 29 Jan 13
Alas I fear the council of Bournemouth will not give any time to my prized specimen, a magnificent white elephant
Scoty2hotty
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1:33pm Tue 29 Jan 13
poolepaul
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2:00pm Tue 29 Jan 13
th Council are you listening???
Dr Strangelove
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2:32pm Tue 29 Jan 13
andyjb10
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2:36pm Tue 29 Jan 13
Dr Strangelove wrote:You comedy genius. That joke is a tad old these days.
No no no it's land based, what is needed is something in the water a surf reef would fit the bill.
boudicas mum
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4:43pm Tue 29 Jan 13
Hessenford
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5:38pm Tue 29 Jan 13
bournenbred
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6:55pm Tue 29 Jan 13
So I can see the wind farm in all its glory !! and butter the flies as they pass !!!
Cooper you are a !!!!!!!!!
oversixty
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7:32pm Tue 29 Jan 13
How about tour buses to take visitors( and locals) to see some of these very special sites which are seldom given any publicity!
RivermeadMike
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10:43pm Tue 29 Jan 13
As an extra use the town's council meetings could be held there.
No doubt the monkeys could provide useful ideas to further Bournemouth tourism!
retry69
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6:54am Wed 30 Jan 13
juniperberry
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3:27pm Wed 30 Jan 13
Scoty2hotty wrote:Went out of biz coz thats not what people want either!
ICE RINK!!!
Freddie frog
says...
10:41pm Thu 31 Jan 13
BmthNewshound says...
12:31pm Tue 29 Jan 13
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A butterfly farm, I ask you. It won’t work – even the hugely successful Eden Project in Cornwall has just announced that it is having to make up to 70 people redundant as it has to find savings. If an internationally renowned tourist attraction like the Eden Project is struggling what hope for a few butterflys in a glorified greenhouse in Durley Chine ?
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If this goes ahead it will be another Imax. The private operator will fail to make it a commercially viable business and the tax payer will be left to pick up the tab.