Derbyshire country park cafe set for new tenants after previous long-term operators were “forced out” following significant council rent increase

Derbyshire County Council had raised the rent of the former Ramblers Coffee Shop in Shipley Country Park, near Heanor, last year.

The rent hike was lowered to a 33 per cent increase after negotiations, but the long-standing tenants declined to pay the increased rent.

The county council now says Derbyshire catering firm Blueberry will be the new tenants, with the renamed Bluebell Cafe to open from this March.

It says: “Blueberry bring a wealth of experience of running cafes in countryside locations elsewhere in Derbyshire in Castleton, Miller’s Dale and Parsley Hay as well as in Matlock and Chesterfield. And they have already begun advertising in the Heanor and Ilkeston area for staff, with plans to recruit to more than 10 full and part-time roles.”

The council says the facility’s reopening arrives “hot on the heels” of Barefleet Lodge Tea Rooms opening in Derby Lodge in the Shipley Wood area of the park in November.

James Shawe, co-owner of Blueberry, said: “Shipley Country Park is a beautiful place and we can’t wait to open up to provide visitors with great homemade food and refreshments, whatever the weather.

“We’re a friendly, small family business and our investment in the cafe will both modernise the space and develop new services – we’re looking forward to meeting everyone.”

Cllr Carolyn Renwick, county council cabinet member for infrastructure and environment, said: “We all know the benefits of getting out and about in nature, and with more than 700 acres of beautiful countryside to explore, Shipley Country Park is a real gem all year round.

“With Barefeet Lodge up and running and The Bluebell Café on the way, we hope visitors will enjoy relaxing with a cup of tea or coffee, join friends for lunch or pause for a mid-walk pit stop as they explore the park.”

Owners of the former Ramblers Coffee Shop, Alison and Jeff Counsell, from Heanor, closed the venue in March last year after five years of operations, with 15 staff members losing their jobs as a result.

They had claimed the rent increase was aimed at plugging the county council’s own finances, saying this was “greed”.

The owners had said the connection between their rent agreement and the venue’s turnover (amount of sales) had proven unsustainable due to increases in wages, ingredients and the rent itself.

They had said: “Our turnover this year will need to increase by over eight per cent for us to simply stand still and we don’t see it fair that the council should benefit from this with no risks to themselves.

“Ramblers is a private commercial business and, in our view, the council are simply acting in greed to maximise their rental income through unreasonable terms.

“It’s our view that the council have acted unreasonably in their demands.”

They also referred to “onerous conditions relating to the introduction of a reporting relationship whereby the council are seeking to control and monitor our business activities”.

At the time, the county council had said: “We’re sorry that the owners have chosen not to accept the terms of a new lease despite our best attempts to negotiate these in a reasonable and pragmatic way.

“We believe the terms we proposed were reasonable based on the unique position the café holds in a prime location within the increasingly popular Shipley Country Park.

“These terms included a fair market rate rent and a common form of annual rent review applied by commercial landlords.

“The proposed terms are also in line with other similar commercial business opportunities across the country.”