RESIDENTS have expressed fears over council plans to demolish a community cafe.

BCP Council want to demolish the Joy Cafe in Churchill Gardens as they plan to open a new building which will house a cafe as part of a community health project.

But concerned residents have started a petition calling for the existing building to be kept in community use.

It has been set-up by Jack Maquire, chair of The Friends of Churchill Gardens.

Boscombe resident and community engagement facilitator, Zoe Keeping, said: “The purpose of the petition is to open up the debate with BCP Council.

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“Residents living in and around Churchill Gardens need to fully understand the Council's plans for the new building beyond the life of The Aspire Project before they go ahead with plans to destroy an exisiting valuable community asset, especially when you consider that Churchill Gardens is an area of entrenched deprivation in dire need of community facilities.

“As things stand at the moment the existing building will be demolished as soon as the new one opens. We currently have no guarantee that the new building will provide the community space really needed in Churchill Gardens in the short term or beyond the life of The Aspire Project.”

But BCP Council have said it is not possible to keep both buildings due to a stipulation in the planning application.

“The planning consent stipulates that there can only be one building in Churchill Gardens and that the original building will be demolished within two months of the new café building being open to the public.

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“The Gardens Café, a BCP owned park café, will be opening soon and will accommodate a brand new community space for learning, cooking and relaxing, and provide new toilet facilities.

"The Gardens Café will also be home to the BCP ASPIRE project, a food and health community project, which will be offering residents who have been long-term unemployed opportunities to grow fresh produce, learn new skills, focus on health and wellbeing, whilst improving their employment prospects. The Gardens Cafe will continue to offer a community café and space beyond the lifetime of the BCP ASPIRE project.”

“It has always been BCP’s position that the new building should be a hardworking park café and accommodate as many different activities and groups as possible. This is why there is a separate space for small groups to meet during café hours and the whole building can be hired outside of the licensed hours that Joy café currently have.”