Cadbury Garden Centre

Park and ride scheme will be at garden centre

May 27 2011 By Jack Abell

A GARDEN in Centre in Denham could soon become a pick up and drop off point for office workers if a new park and ride scheme is given the go ahead.

Smith's Nurseries, in Oxford Road, has been approached by Cadbury's, who have opened an office in Uxbridge Business Park.

The firm moved to the business park in 2009 following Cadbury's take over by Kraft and has 420 people working at it. However, there are only 194 parking spaces, meaning that parking for employees there has been a huge issue.

The problem will soon be exacerbated because Cadbury's are closing offices in Cheltenham and moving those employees to Uxbridge.

Norman Smith, who runs Smith's Nurseries, already has planning permission to develop a section of land near to his garden centre and Cadbury's approached him earlier this year to ask if it would be possible to turn the land into car parking spaces for their employees.

He agreed, and Cadbury's are now proposing that their workers park there and then catch an electrical shuttle bus which will run between the garden centre and their office 12 times a day.

The garden centre would have an electric charging point put in place to power the bus, enabling it to travel the 300 metres between the centre and the office block.

In a letter out ling the plans, Dianna Pipkin, Cadbury's facilities manager, said: "We have an urgent need for 70 to 100 spaces. Whilst we will endeavour to encourage all staff to consider travelling to work by other means than car, the probability is that those office workers who were formerly working at our Cheltenham office are now commuting by car to Uxbridge.

"Smith's Garden Centre is ideal because it is only 1,500 metres from our office, it opens at 7.15am which is when we would want to start the pick and the area involved on the site is already hard surfaced and almost immediately available for use."

The proposed park and ride scheme would operate between Monday and Friday between 7.15am and 7pm, making 12 trips. However, it is projected that at peak times, there would be around 16 cars entering and leaving the site every 15 minutes, driven by people parking there to catch the shuttle bus.

This has caused some concern among nearby residents.

Jim Lewis, 45, of New Denham, who says he is going to object to the plans, said: "The shuttle bus itself won't cause too much of a problem, but if you're adding a car park for up to around 100 cars, it's clear to see that will increase traffic on the Oxford Road a lot. It's already a very busy road in rush hour, and this will make things much more busy for people travelling into and out of Uxbridge.

Cadbury lifestyle venue and garden centre in one – latest ...

Cadbury Garden and Leisure is the South West’s Premier Garden Centre offering all that is best for the garden and home.

Considered a department store for the gardener, Cadbury beat off fierce competition to win the prestigious Gold Award for Britain’s Best Retailer 2009 in the garden retailing category.

The quality of plants is second to none. Together with the experience and expertise of the knowledgeable and friendly staff to assist both experienced and amateur gardeners. The aim is to offer a first class service backed up by an in depth horticultural knowledge and expertise. Cadbury pride themselves on the excellent quality of garden plants and offer a hardy 5-year plant guarantee.

With a further 800 square metres of newly covered walkway, customers can enjoy even the rainiest of days.  The walkway provides cover in the outdoor and seasonal plants area. The striking structure also links the patio centre, outdoor pots, planters, compost and new outdoor plant advice centre.  The new awning and covered walkways make the 6,000 square metres of planteria accessible for the keen or amateur gardener, whatever the weather.

Though Cadbury are strong on plants and sundries, they offer much more besides. The store houses a number of different departments including leisure, gifts, craft & hobbies, clothing, toys, books and cards, pets and aquatics. Cadbury offers a vast selection of excellent quality garden furniture, BBQ’s and accessories for all that is best in outdoor living.

The restaurant serves freshly prepared hot & cold meals, light snacks and a scrumptious selection of cakes and pastries. You can sit on our covered terraced area and catch up with some friends whilst watching the kids enjoy the all weather covered children’s play area.

And if you’re stuck for what do with the kids on a Sunday, come along to our FREE interactive planting workshops held throughout the year.

Cadbury offers a range of initiatives to save their customers time and hassle, including express checkouts and a user-friendly self-price checker allowing customers to conveniently check the price of items.

As a way of saying ‘thank you’ to loyal customers, Cadbury have a ClubCard which includes seasonal offers, discounted events and free entry into prize draws. ClubCard sign-up desks are in stores and customers are also able to join online.

So why not pop into Cadbury and have yourself an award-wining experience!

Law and Valuation of Leisure Property

Key British enterprises, KBE

The Garden

Country life

Journal of planning and environment law