THURROCK Council has served up an opportunity to local entrepreneurs - the keys to a showcase local café .

The council is looking for a business partner to operate a café and community rooms at Grays Beach park, which is set for a major refurbishment.

The area is set to become a borough destination for residents and visitors after the council secured £19.9m in new Towns Funding to transform Grays Riverfront, joining up Grays Beach Riverside Park and Kilverts Fields and improving park facilities.

Plans include the creation of a new park café that will also feature community rooms and an outdoor seating area that will take full advantage of the café's riverside location and its proximity to the River Thames. 

Work will soon get underway on the first phase of the major redevelopment which includes a new walkway, improved flood defences and landscaping to help open up the riverfront in Grays. 

The council says: "If you would like to play a role in helping the development become a success by becoming a tenant of the new building, operating a café for visitors, and helping to boost the new park as a great place for families and residents to visit then we would love to hear from you. 

"We will be looking to find the best tenant for the building this summer, that way you and your business will be on board from the ground up as the new building is created, completed and opened. 

"If you would like to discuss the opportunity, please email [email protected]."

advertisement

Council portfolio holder for good growth Cllr Lee Watson was at the forefront of recent legal action over the future of the café

The future of the café and catering at Grays Beach Park has been a cause of recent contorversy, with legal action between the council and the café's previous tenants.