Ferndown, Political | Posted on April 24th, 2025 | return to news
Fury in Ferndown over Ferns Café closure
Residents expressed their frustration directly to members of Ferndown Town Council at the annual parishioners’ meeting.
Attendees to Ferndown Town Council’s annual parishioners’ meeting on Wednesday 23 April voiced their anger and disappointment over the council’s decision to close Ferns Café in The Barrington Centre.
In early April, it was announced that the council-funded café in the heart of Ferndown would be shut down from the end of May, following four years of financial losses.
According to Cllr Philip Leach, chair of the Barrington Centre Management Committee, the café has lost around £150,000 over the last four years.
During the meeting, residents expressed how much the café means to them, as it is place where many members of the community, especially the elderly and those with disabilities, go to meet and socialise. Many asked why alternatives had not been tried, such as increasing menu prices, before resorting to a closure.
One resident, who had collected a petition with over 120 signatures protesting the decision, warned that closing the café would be harmful to vulnerable members of the local community. She said: “An increase in costs would be acceptable, to close the café with no alternative is worse.”
Another resident to speak was Mr M Pearson, chairman of the Bournemouth branch of the Royal Engineers Association, which meets at The Barrington Centre once a month. He said the café was a lifeline and that his members always felt it was underpriced.
He added: “It provides a wonderful meeting place at a reasonable price.”
Cllr Philip Leach, chair of the Barrington Centre Management Committee, responded to residents’ concerns, saying that the council was exploring alternative ideas to keep the day-to-day café open, but that the café also needed a stable financial foundation, which it has not achieved in the past four years.
He said: “Taxpayers are subsidising every cup of coffee. Is that fair?
“None of us stood for election to close stuff down.
“But it’s important to be prudent.”
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