The River Centre and café

An artist's impression of the Queen’s Shallop - ‘The Jubilant’ - and the River Centre

A priority in the development brief is the provision of a new River Centre to be managed by the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames. Such a centre was identified as a priority for community related facilities on the site following the ‘Twickenham Challenge Initiative’ in 2004.

The River Centre will be a significant community facility, incorporating a boat house, learning centre, office space for voluntary organisations, a restaurant/café and public toilets. It will be a place where people of all ages and groups in the community can learn about the environment, the river and sustainability. Twickenham’s boat building heritage will also be celebrated through exhibitions and winter storage of the Queen’s Shallop – ‘The Jubilant’.

The temporary café and playground

Councillor Carr at Cafe Sunshine

The lease for the temporary café on the Riverside site expired on 16 June 2009. Following a short period of closure for refurbishment, the Sunshine café run by Power Employment, the Council’s service for adults with learning disabilities, opened in early July. Both the cafe and the adjacent playground will remain open until construction works commence on site in 2010. An application for temporary planning permission, to extent current permission for the café and play area for one year, is going to the Planning Committee on 3 September.