It’s been years in the making, but we’re delighted to be nearing the delivery of the latest project we’ve been developing to offer more to Burton Mere Wetlands’ loyal visitors - and hopefully plenty of new ones in the years ahead.
Part of a national RSPB project, we are one of four reserves having a café installed (or in Conwy’s case, an expansion and improvement of their existing one) through the second half of this year.
Some of you may have seen the posters put up on site a month ago, and now we’ve finally crossed the ‘T’s and dotted the ‘I’s of the planning paperwork, we can announce the beginning of the work on the ground next week.
Inevitably with any building work, there will be some level of disruption at Burton Mere Wetlands over the next few months, but we hope this can be kept to a minimum due to the nature of the building being of modular construction, effectively built off-site and transported to the reserve in five sections to be installed.
There is still a substantial amount of groundwork to do though by a variety of contractors and utility companies, including digging in a new septic tank, upgrading the electricity supply, relocating a telegraph pole and laying a concrete base for the café building to sit on.
Before anything else, to create space for where the café will sit, the old brick toilet block close to the garden will be demolished. This work is scheduled to take place from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 September, and will mean that from Tuesday, toilet provision on the reserve will be temporarily reduced to the three cubicles beside the visitor centre, until the addition of new ones at the café.
This work certainly does not mean you should avoid visiting at this exciting time of year, as there will be no impact on car parking or access to the trails with this first relatively small job. In the weeks and months ahead, there will be the occasional day where the reserve needs to be closed to visitors, for instance to allow for the building to be delivered – not an easy task given the winding driveway through Gorse Covert.
When this is required, we will give as much advanced notice as possible, to allow you to plan an alternative destination on those days. As ever, your patience and understanding of occasional disruption are appreciated, and we hope you’re as excited as we are to enjoy your first frothy coffee, fresh cake, hot breakfast or light lunch here, nestled under ancient oaks, with views across the vast wetlands and the garden pond.
There is still a long way to go and a lot of work until the café opens; if all goes to plan, we’ll be up and running ready for next spring. In the meantime, you’ll be able to get a sneak preview of what ours will look and feel like, if you visit Conwy, Frampton Marsh or The Lodge reserves during the winter when theirs are expected to be open.
Keep your eyes peeled for future blogs, and Facebook and Twitter posts, for further updates throughout the autumn, and hopefully we’ll welcome you at Burton Mere Wetlands sometime soon, where we’re happy to answer your queries about the new café.