Today, 27 May 2023, is the last day that Polkemmet Cafe will be open due to West Lothian Council not allowing the lease to transfer to one of the staff on the retirement of Fiona, the owner.

This is devastating news for anyone who loves Polkemmet Country Park. The Cafe is well used by walkers, runners, cyclists, golfers, and families of all ages and was a deciding factor in choosing Polkemmet Country Park as a location for a weekly parkrun. And by reading the cafe's post that I shared on Facebook, it is also used by schools, visitors to the owl centre and clubs of all descriptions. It was noted how good the food was and how welcoming the staff are. Recently, The Scottish Owl centre won an award for the best visiting centre 2023 this would be also heavily dependant on the cafe facilities. The cafe encouraged people to go out into nature by exploring the park before or after their visit. 

Once again an important community facility has been lost. The cafe offered a friendly, affordable location where people could go and meet.  West Lothian Council have forgotten Polkemmet Park for years and it has been left to volunteers like The Friends of Polkemmet Park to maintain and upgrade it and find funds to do so. When The Friends heard about the cafe closing today they went straight to the Park to talk to Fiona and they've agreed to start a petition to get WLC to change their minds about this. The Friends have lots of contacts and are going to be proactive in this but we will need proof that people don't want this to happen. This will seriously impact on the number of people using the park which in turn will lead WLC to make more cuts to the ever-decreasing investments that they give to the park.

Personally, I think it is terrible that WLC didn't involve, or at least inform The Friends and Whitburn Regeneration about what was going on.

So please add your name to this petition and share it as much as possible. Also feel free to contact WLC and let them know how you feel about this.