Planning permission for a new destination garden centre in the Alver Valley, Gosport, Hampshire, has been approved this week by the local authority, Gosport Borough Council.
It will be the third centre for the Your Local Garden Centre group which already operates centres at Mappleborough Green (pictured top) and Stansted Park.
Construction is due to start summer 2021, with the centre’s opening scheduled for spring 2022. The business is expected to employ around 60 staff.
Your Local Garden Centre group is run by Paul Richards and Tim Mason, who have been working on plans for the destination centre in Gosport for several years.
The six-acre brownfield site, previously a World War 2 airfield, is adjacent to the Alver Valley Country Park and Little Woodham Living History village. The development will include shared facilities to make it a gateway to the adjacent attractions.
Paul Richards commented: “The retail world is being painfully disrupted and challenged. To compete with online, retail now needs to be part of something with visitor appeal. Working with the council is allowing us to be part of what will become a major local attraction for the area.”
The main building for the new garden centre will be a multi-span steel portal framed structure with a large feature oak porch frontage, similar to Mappleborough Green and Stansted Park. The developers aim to blend the best of modern and traditional building techniques to create a sustainable, attractive and inspiring site.
The 5,400m² building will incorporate a coffee shop and café with panoramic views over the plant areas and adjacent country park. Catering will be an important part of the overall offering, which will also include an ice cream parlour and separate children’s play area. The garden centre will become a central part of the Alver Valley visitor attractions and includes the Alver Valley meeting room available for community meetings and events.
