Green light for new cafe and car park at Thrybergh Country Park in Rotherham

The upgrades, funded through the government’s levelling up fund, will see the existing cafe demolished and replaced with a new cafe, seating terrace and landscaping.

Car parking arrangements will also be formalised, and the majority of parking will be moved to the northern field.

Planning documents state that the existing lakeside cafe, which has been running since 1995, ‘is considered to be outdated and no longer fit for purpose’.

Thrybergh Reservoir was initially excavated in 1880 and still occupies the land to the present date. Thrybergh Reservoir came under the management of RMBC in 1980 and was then developed into a Country Park and Nature Reserve by 1983.

Although the cafe has capacity for 50 covers, it currently most serves takeaway food, as the seating is contained in a conservatory which ‘provides a hot and unpleasant environment in the summer and is cold in the winter’.

‘The existing building also lacks the ability to provide uninterrupted views across the reservoir, which the proposals seek to correct.

The new cafe will have capacity for 80 seats inside and a further 40 outside, and will offer ‘180 degree views across the water’.

The report adds that the application constitutes ‘very special circumstances to overcome the inappropriateness of creating a new car park within the Green Belt,’ due to highway safety improvements and increased parking encouraging new visitors.

The plans were approved by RMBC on February 9.