Work to complete Bateman’s Tower Café – which has remained unfinished for over five years – could start in 2025 after new plans have been shown to Brightlingsea Town Council.
A dispute between café proprietor Lisa Brown and her builder is thought to have been the main reason why the project on Brightlingsea’s Promenade Way stalled. The old tin-roofed café it replaced closed in January 2019 and building began shortly afterwards.
Brightlingsea Town Council owns the land and in the last year has increased its efforts to get its tenant to finish the project – including a threat of legal action when responses were not forthcoming.
The café was designed to float in the event of flooding and in early 2020 the theory was put to the test when when a tidal surge inundated the promenade area. When the waters receded, it’s believed that the building did not settle back into place. Since then the building has been shrouded in scaffolding, without external cladding, and suffering weather-related deterioration.
Now the council has been shown “detailed stages of the programme for the completion of the project” at a meeting with Mrs Brown and Maldon-based civil engineer Ben Parmenter, who is said by the council to be “highly experienced” in waterside developments.
At the meeting, the council says assurance were given by Ms Brown that “finances were in place to bring this programme to a conclusion”. Professional engineering drawings and working details were presented to the council together with approximate times scales.
“It was obvious to the council members present that a significant amount of planning had taken place to get to this stage,” said a council statement. “Further work will be required with the planning authority and Environmental Agency for approval of the updates to the project. Should these approvals be granted in a timely fashion it was hoped that the actual works on site would begin in spring 2025.”
The original design was said by its architects to be “environmentally conscious and sustainable”. Much larger than the single-storey building it replaced – which had been in Mrs Brown’s family since 1976 – it was to include a licensed bar and restaurant, with design cues taken from “Essex fishing huts and large beach huts”.
