Garden centre set to bring in 60 new jobs

A NEW garden centre will be built in Gosport, bringing 60 new jobs to the town.

Planning permission has been approved for the garden centre to be built near Grange Farm in Alver Valley.

The site will have a restaurant, a coffee shop, an icecream bar and a function/ community room, along with toilets. A separate children’s play area is also planned.

Parking will be provided for customers and for visitors to Alver Valley Country Park, as well as the nearby Little Woodham living history village.

A garden centre has been in the works for the past few years, with councillors keen to have something that would make the area stand out.

Currently, the nearest garden centre for residents is Garsons in Titchfield.

Leader of Gosport Borough

Council, Cllr Mark Hook, said: ‘This is the last major step towards creating a really attractive visitor gateway to the park at this site.

‘The plan is for a first-class garden centre with plenty of facilities for visitors to the Alver Valley.’

Garden centre company MGGC Ltd received planning permission from Gosport Borough Council. MGGC runs another garden centre in

Hampshire – at Stansted Park near Rowlands Castle – along with one in Warwickshire.

Construction is due to start in the summer, with opening planned for spring 2022.

The garden centre is part of a larger council scheme to bolster the facilities in Alver Valley, which already has new parking and built an adventure playground at the western side of the park, where a cafe with toilets is being built.