Popular pop-up cafe just the start for Bigge Park, says council CEO

The success of the pop-up café was only the start for Bigge Park, says Liverpool Council CEO Carl Wulff.

Part of the Building Our New City plans for Bigge Park, the pop-up café was approved by council last year.

Mr Wulff said earlier today that as part of the park makeover, café operator Ristretto & Co was provided a licence to operate the pop-up out of the old Bigge Park pumphouse and granted a token lease of $1.

Ristretto & Co spent around $25,000 to prepare the building for use.

“Token leases of this nature are common for a business that takes on the risk – where council is seeking to activate an area for the benefit of the community,” Mr Wulff said.

He said the success of the trial proved there was a strong demand for a café on the site and he was hopeful that with a Development Application lodged, a café would become a permanent fixture on the site.

“Our goal is to address the lack of facilities and connect the 6,000 health and education staff and students, and activate an important, attractive space,” he said.

“Higher density around the city requires better open space, and we want to make the most of this beautiful and historic public space.”

Mr Wulff said that residents could now look forward to an expansion of the park with the demolition of the old bowling club.

“There will be more green space to enjoy and a water play area for the kids,” he said.

The Salvation Army had occupied the bowling club building while their premises was refurbished following a fire. The group has since moved back to its home on the corner of Memorial Avenue and Bathurst Street.

“We were pleased to have them occupy the facility without a Development Application (as it was only a temporary use) while their building was being repaired,” Mr Wulff said.

The CEO said that recent criticism about the lack of public consultation on the city renewal was unfounded.

“Our councillors and our community have been consulted heavily regarding every step of our plans for the Building Our New City program,” he said.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Even our local public schools, Liverpool Boys High and Liverpool Primary, assisted with the ideas for the playground.”[/social_quote]

Mr Wulff said that consultation had included capturing media coverage to the value of $200,000, and resulted in thousands of visits to the council website and many local media stories.

He also congratulated the council staff that had worked co-operatively with a number of agencies to house a group of homeless people that were living in Bigge Park.

“I’m extremely proud of the work my staff have done, and continue to do, on these projects.”