Long-awaited reopening of Towneley Park's Stables Café delayed as complete refurbishment continues

Burnley Council is working closely with Deep Beat Entertainment (operating as Life Cafés & Resorts) to undertake a complete refurbishment of The Old Stables Café in Towneley Park, which is a listed building.

Whilst it was hoped that the refurbishment would have been completed by spring, the scheme has been delayed because the building needs to be completely re-roofed.

The council undertook repairs in Autumn 2021, but the winter storms caused further damage to the old roof tiles, causing water to leak into the building. Complete re-roofing will be a cheaper option In the long term than frequent repairs and the risk of further water ingress.

It is expected that the re-roofing will be complete by the end of July and the café operator will complete the refurbishment and fit-out of the interior of the café by mid-September.

The council apologises for the delay in reopening the Stables and the inconvenience this has caused to visitors.

Louis Dixon, founder and managing director of Life Cafés and Resorts, said: "Since we began operating at Towneley Park in a temporary capacity last year, our dedicated teams on-site and behind the scenes have been working hard to provide an exceptional food and drink offering for the wonderful people of Burnley.

"Whilst we have been serving barista crafted coffee and wood-fired pizza from our vintage converted horse boxes, our team and that of Burnley Council, have been making the necessary assessments and undertaking preliminary works on The Old Stables Café building.

"We are delighted to be partnering with the council on the refurbishment of the building. The essential repair and replacement of the roof is taking place as a priority, after which our extensive and exciting refurbishment works will begin, with the assurance that the significant investment we are putting into the building will be protected.

"We are so passionate about bringing this special venue back to life and we are eager to share our finalised design plans with the community very soon, in anticipation of a grand opening in the autumn."