Green light for new café in popular city park

Kieran Molloy, Local Democracy Reporter

A brand new facility in a city park that will “enhance the visitor experience” has received approval to go ahead.

The former ranger bungalow in Parc Cefn Onn on the edge of Cardiff, which is currently vacant and historically served a “residential function” associated with park management”, is set to become a new cafe for parkgoers.

The application reads: “[The development] preserves the character of the existing building, enhances the visitor experience at Cefn Onn Park, and represents a sustainable and sensitive form of development.”

Repurposing the ranger station as a cafe is “considered less intensive” than a permanent residential occupation and will be managed to avoid “undue disturbance” to park guests at the Thornhill beauty spot.

No physical changes to the building are proposed with the scale, layout, and appearance of the bungalow.

This ensures that the “character and relationship with the park setting remain unchanged”.

The application reads: “The change of use relies on the reuse of an existing building, avoiding unnecessary new development and preserving the established landscape.”

It continues: “The proposed cafe use complements the recreational function of Cefn Onn Park and provides an appropriate facility for visitors without introducing incongruous activity.”

Access to the new cafe will continue to be through the existing pathways in the park.

There are no new points of access in the proposal so no significant changes will be made to the circulation of people within the park.

As the use of the new cafe is primarily to serve parkgoers on foot no increase in car or other vehicle traffic is expected as a result of the new facility.

A comment by the secretary of the Friends of Cefn Onn attached to the planning application reads: “The friends group wholeheartedly support this application to allow a cafe in the park.

“The friends have campaigned for this for many years and have secured a substantial grant from a local charity for refurbishing the cafe.

“We firmly believe that the cafe will be an important and necessary addition to the park as an excellent amenity. It will attract more visitors to the park and enhance the neighbourhood.”