Cockington's visitor centre saved by local business - who plan to ensure it remains a community asset
A team room business, based opposite, has bought the site at auction and will now turn it into an ice cream parlour, community facility and retain the visitor centre aspect
Cockington’s much-loved visitor centre will be open for business in time for the new season according to the man who has paid nearly a quarter of a million pounds to buy it.
Gordon and Lindsey England made the successful £241,000 bid to bring the auctioneer’s hammer down when the building came up for sale.
Now the couple intend to reopen it as a visitor centre as well as using it to extend their own successful Weavers Cottage Tea Garden business in their home next door.
“We are absolutely delighted that we have managed to get it,” said Mr England. “I hope it’s a popular move, and I hope the community supports us.”
The Grade Two listed building which was one of the assets of the collapsed Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust. Originally built using public donations and council funding, it was not owned by Torbay Council and had to be sold by administrators in charge of the trust’s assets to get as much as they could for creditors.
The revelation that the centre was to be included in the sell-off sparked an outcry. The Friends of Cockington Country Park said the building should be safeguarded as a community asset and local councillors opposed the sale.
Agents Greenslade Taylor Hunt offered it as ‘a charming heritage property set within historic parkland, combining traditional character with a welcoming retail and information space’.
A guide price of £120,000 was set, and bidding quickly went higher.
When the Englands, who have run the tea garden next door for four years, revealed on social media that they had bought the centre, dozens of supportive comments were posted by local people.
Mr England said the visitor centre had not been open often enough when the trust had it, and people had come to the tea garden to ask what there was to do in Cockington.
“We identified that there is absolutely a need for a visitor centre,” he added. “As people who make a living from visitors to Cockington, whether local, national or international, we know how important a visitor centre is.
“One of our main reasons for buying it was to keep it as such, although we will expand our business into it as well.”
It was the first time the couple had participated in an auction, and Mr England admitted he was shaking at one stage during the bidding, which included a number of people in the room and others online.
All being well, he said, the building will be open as a visitor centre by the middle of April.
The Englands are also searching for volunteers to help man the visitor centre. Email [email protected]