People living in Stoke Newington have called for a new “people’s café” in Clissold Park after the existing facilities closed in March.

The café in Clissold Park has been shut ever since the previous operator went into administration.

Frieda Schicker, who lives in Stoke Newington and has used the café for the last 30 years, said that its closure had “left a big hole” in the park.

She has urged Hackney Council to restore the café as soon as possible, but said people living in the area would like to be consulted on the future tender before this happens.

Hackney Council has said that it would be unusual to run a public consultation to choose a new café operator, and that it is “keen not to delay the process even further”.

Frieda told Hackney Gazette: “I just think there are quite a few good ideas out there the council should listen to.

“The affordable options don’t need to be these standardised, plasticated sandwiches.

“It’s about what should be available for everybody, particularly when there are plenty of families in Stoke Newington that can’t afford really high prices.

“It’s a people’s park, and it needs a people’s café.”

A petition started by Frieda last month calling for a public consultation on the plans has so far garnered almost 80 signatures.

Her plea has been backed by independent socialist ward councillor Fliss Premru, who described the lack of consultation as a “missed opportunity”.

She added that recent attempts by the council to consult the park user group on the future café’s menu and pricing is “too little too late”.

The council confirmed that the park user group would form part of the panel assessing applications to run the new café. 

But Frieda said that while consultation with the user group was welcome, this was not necessarily “representative of all the communities in Hackney that use the park”.

Cllr Premru has now urged people living in the area to join the group’s next meeting at Clissold Park House at 11am on Sunday (September 15), so that a “wide range of voices” can have their say.

Responding to concerns, Mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley said she “appreciates how frustrating” the long closure of the café has been, but stressed that this was necessary while the “correct legal processes” were followed.

She claimed that as soon as the council was made aware that the operator had gone into administration, it “began working to take back possession of the property and start the procurement process to advertise the new contract”.

Ms Woodley added: “In the meantime we opened a brand new mobile coffee kiosk.

“Along with the popular Pump House kiosk, this provides another location for people to buy coffee and other refreshments in the park.”