A plan for a new-look gateway to Gosport's Alver Valley country park, including a garden centre and café, has taken a major step forward.
Gosport Borough Council has signed a lease with a garden centre company which plans to build and run the new centre at Grange Farm, on the eastern side of the park.
The new garden centre would have a restaurant, a coffee shop and toilets. Parking would be provided for customers and for visitors to the country park and the nearby Little Woodham living history village. Access would be via a new road to the north of the site.
The company, MGGC Ltd, is expected to apply for planning permission for the garden centre within a few weeks. If permission is granted, the garden centre could be open in early 2021.
MGGC runs another garden centre in Hampshire – at Stansted Park near Rowland's Castle – along with one in Warwickshire.
The garden centre plan is the latest move by the council to boost facilities at Alver Valley. It has improved parking and has built a new adventure playground at the western side of the park, where a café with toilets is also planned.
Cllr Mark Hook, Leader of the Council, said: "This agreement with MGGC is a big milestone in our plan to create a visitor gateway to the park at this site. The plan is for a first-class garden centre with all the facilities people would expect.
"Alver Valley is such an important green area for the people of the borough, and this development would make it an even more attractive and enjoyable place to visit."
