Its a real shame enjoyed using the place, rent simply too high!!

But it is London!! not Manchester

It will be a great shame if it closes. If it goes I assume all the plastic toys which are put there at the moment as a makeshift playground will also go. Then there will be even fewer playground facilities around - and as a previous post said this one is a great location as it is dog free, traffic free and there are public loos there already.

Just wondering if the plan is to close the other cafes to drive more traffic to the proposed new cafe site?

I ve just seen that Fields (the cafe next to the skate park) has closed as Lambeth Council were putting the rent up by 115%. Ridiculous and really sad. That place used to get so busy and we would go most weekends. If a busy cafe like Fields cannot afford the rent then I'm not sure who would be able to. Will be interesting to see if they also intend to raise the rent on the bandstand cafe.

It is also a great green space for young children to play without fear of them running into a busy road.

I LOVE the bowling green cafe and will be gutted if it closes. It DOES have a proper coffee machine and is very busy especially in the summer months with the after school crowd.
It will be a big loss to the common am local residents ; (

All the sports facilities are open except the bowls green which is shut for the winter.

What a shame that the rent is so high. That is an impossible figure for such a small site. It would be lovely to have a new coffee shop there though. Is the bowling green itself still operating?

Artist's impression of the Clapham South air raid cafe!

Trying to get a clear answer from Lambeth Council is a bit like trying to catch fog.

A cafe right opposite the station in the WW2 air raid shelter rotunda would do excellent business.

The BG cafe is too tucked away from commuter traffic. It also would need a total makeover and possible rebuild (it is , after all, no more than a hut at the moment, and a fairly scruffy one if that).

If the council could reduce the rent to take account of the above it may be able to survive on the meagre business it's position dictates - otherwise I fear it won't survive.

petal wrote:Don't forget, a café will also open on the common lawn outside Clapham South tube some time in the near future.

Really? You mean the old toilets right opposite the tube? That's very interesting. I thought the most obvious option for the BG Cafe was to open earlier to get the commuter traffic for coffees and sandwiches etc.

Having said that, what do I know, I hit tennis balls for a living

petal wrote:Don't forget, a café will also open on the common lawn outside Clapham South tube some time in the near future.

Really? You mean the old toilets right opposite the tube? That's very interesting. I thought the most obvious option for the BG Cafe was to open earlier to get the commuter traffic for coffees and sandwiches etc.

Having said that, what do I know, I hit tennis balls for a living

It appears the Rookery Café lease is currently 28K pa
They are trying to sell the business for a 90K premium