Fenland garden centre has 'Mega' plans for café
A Fenland garden centre is set to improve its services to customers with the addition of a new café and indoor retail area.
Mega Plants in Hospital Road, Doddington, has successfully won planning permission from Fenland District Council to build a 50 metres by 20.7 metres on its site.
Approval was granted this week to the Cutteridge family who run the business, which opened in 2008.
More than 15 letters of support were sent in to the council from the public keen to see the business expand to offer a café.
Concerns over the width of the access road to the site have been addressed with the promise of provision of passing places along Hospital Road.
Improvements are also required to both accesses into the Mega Plants site to make it safer for the anticipated extra customer vehicles that will be visiting.
A design and access statement submitted in support of the proposal by Ian Gowler Architectural and Domestic Energy Consultant explained: "The new building is proposed to create an open secure space for retail along with a café with terrace area.
"Building construction will be a steel portal frame, composite cladding walls and roof. Rooflights used in the retail area to maximise wall space use. The current poly tunnel sale area and till is no longer suitable for the current and expected customers."
It also explains the new building will screen the poly tunnels and provide a welcoming entrance to the garden centre.
The statement said: "At present the area for the proposed building is already being used for retail space therefore the
total retail area will remain unchanged.
"However with a warm covered building the garden centre will be able to better serve customers during all seasons and widen winter retail trade.
"Megaplants would like to evolve it’s customer base to encourage more customers during the normally quiet winter months. The new building will allow the business to provide a warm space for sale of Christmas gifts and a café providing snacks and hot drinks.
"The layout of the retail area will remain similar to the current open sales area, customers will enter to the left hand side of the poly tunnels and return through the right hand tunnel the new building and exit to the car park."
