Coffee and cake for canines! Hungry hounds get their own menu as new West Park cafe set to open

Dog Cafe




Dog owners have welcomed a pooch-friendly policy at a new cafe in Bognor’s West Park. And there is plenty for the pets to get their teeth into, too, because visiting canines will have their very own menu!

The park is set to have the new exciting pop-up café up and running ready for the peak summer season. Work on the new temporary café began last week by ISS Lifestyle who will also operate and manage the facility.

The new facility will serve a variety of quality snacks, hot and cold drinks including barista-style coffee from local roastery Edgcumbes & luxury Beechdean ice creams.

And the café will also be offering a new specially created menu for dogs who will also be welcomed back into the facility, which has been closed since early 2017.

ISS, who are also Arun District Council’s Greenspace Management Contractor, will begin work on a permanent first-class café later this year once the pop-up facility closes.

The details of the permanent café are still being finalised but it is expected to open ready for summer 2018, and will aim to meet the needs of all those who enjoy the park all year round.

More information about exactly when the café is likely to be launched and how it will look will be available soon.

Since winning the councils Greenspace contract last year ISS Lifestyle have already invested significantly in a number of Arun’s outdoor recreation facilities including a full refurbishment of the Adventure Golf course and the re-opening of the cafe at Norfolk Gardens in Littlehampton.

Planning permission for a brand-new adventure golf course at Hotham Park in Bognor Regis which will also be managed by ISS Lifestyle has also been granted this week.

Arun District Council’s Stephen Haymes says the council is committed to ensuring that the future café provision is of a high quality and meets the needs of all those who use West Park throughout the year.

He added: “We recognise the benefit in having parks services delivered through a single operator as this will help to ensure that both maintenance and catering operations will be delivered to meet the high expectations of both the Council and the public.

“As soon as we have firm plans we will be letting people know what will be on offer. “

Justin Simpson, Recreation & Lifestyle Manager ISS lifestyle, said: “Its great news that work has started at West Park, it’s such a popular site and we are finally glad to have something exciting to offer the local community.”

“With the summer just around the corner we felt it was important to give the local people what they wanted. That’s why we are opening temporarily at first, before we can really come up with something that is right for the site, which is a newly fully refurbished café ready for next summer (2018).”

“Having spent some time speaking to various people in and around the park in recent weeks we have looked at what we need to offer the community and as well as drinks, snacks and ice creams we have also decided to introduce a new special menu for dogs. Hopefully this will help bring back the strong community of dog walkers who use the park on a daily basis”




About the Author

Carl Eldridge
Carl Eldridge is a hugely experienced journalist who has worked on local and national newspapers, magazines and written for websites over the past 30 years. He lives in Bognor Regis with his wife and son.