Petition to keep cafe tenant at Fermain
A PETITION has been launched to try to secure the existing Fermain Beach Cafe tenant first refusal on the new lease.
Current tenant Belmiro de Freitas has run the cafe for 21 years and would like to stay, but the States has put it up for rent.
The ideas within the tender document suggest the site could be redeveloped to increase its size.
It has led to shock and anger from many islanders.
Among them is Andie Lewis, who has lived nearby for 23 years.
She launched the petition to bring together all the people with concerns that the current tenant might lose the lease.
‘I’ve had so many people say they have such wonderful family memories down there,’ she said.
‘We all love going there. It is so sad that it might go.’
She felt the States should be using the kiosk as a model for what a States-owned kiosk can be, rather than trying to change it.
In the petition she wrote that the current tenant has improved the facility beyond belief and should be allowed to renew the lease taking into consideration all the improvements they have made.
‘We further believe that to construct a new three-storey building is totally out of keeping in this area. We feel that it is of paramount importance to retain the natural beauty of the bay and retain its rustic charm.’
The petition was launched on Thursday night and was nearing 150 signatures late yesterday afternoon.
To sign the petition visit www.change.org/p/save-fermain-beach-cafe.
