A popular country park in Wokingham could be getting new restaurant as a bidding process has begun.

Dinton Pastures Country Park in Hurst attracts thousands of visitors each year as one of Wokingham Borough’s beauty spots.

The country park could be getting a new restaurant at its Dragonfly Café.

This would be a significant upgrade for the country park, which having a new activity centre built on it as well.

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The prospect of a new restaurant at Dinton Pastures was discussed as Wokingham Borough Council is on the hunt for a new  café operator to run the  Dragonfly Café and a new cafe in the Dinton Pastures Activity Centre, which is under construction.

The discussion was held during a meeting of the borough’s executive committee.

During the meeting, Councillor John Kaiser, executive member for finance and housing, asked:  “Obviously we’re changing gear at Dinton Pastures and you’ve talked about two cafés. Is there any opportunity of delivering a restaurant for use in the evening? I’m pretty sure in its setting it would be very very successful.”

Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure, answered: “I call the facilities that are going to be bid for innovative and imaginative and part of that is a restaurant where the Dragonfly Café is which is much bigger than the one upstairs which will be in the Dinton Activity Centre.

“The proposal is that there will be a café upstairs in the activity centre but a high class restaurant where the Dragonfly Café is at the moment.”

The Dinton Pastures Activity Centre was meant to be opened this Spring.

However, it is now set for a ‘soft opening’ this July, with a grand opening in September.

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The opening date was revealed after  Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport, enquired when the Activity Centre would be ready for use.

Cllr Batth said: “We are hopefully opening this on Saturday, September 11, for the official opening, but a soft opening will be at the end of July.”

The executive committee voted to begin the procurement process for a new café operator at the park.

The opening of a restaurant in the park would be reliant on a food business operator putting a plan for a restaurant in its bid.

The new operator’s contract will start in April 2022 and will last for five years, with the opportunity to extend for another five years.

The Dragonfly Café at Dinton currently serves breakfast and brunch, baps and baguettes, sandwiches and jacket potatoes for visitors. It is open from 8.30am to 5pm each day.

All members of Wokingham borough's executive committee are Conservatives.