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do you think having a cafe at the oval is a good idea?

Sadly I've had to vote no. Reasons already stated by others. I'd add that the first question in starting any enterprise shouldn't be what or even where, but who. By that I mean you need a flair for any individual business (a service differentiator in modern parlance). If you're simply seeing cups of tea simply as 50p pieces then you're probably in the wrong biz. Sounds like you're looking around for something to start; sounds like you see a cafe as some sort of public service. The first question is what would really get my interest? What could I stick out low (and likely negative) returns and l-o-n-g hours in for quite some time until I get it right? When you get that right in your own mind then the practical questions like location kick in. Cafes need a high paying customer turnover, and the location to facilitate that, to make a go of it. You want them in and out pretty fast. If you attract lots of kids sitting around because it's somewhere warm for them to go, then the sort of clients you need to keep the operation going will simply avoid. That's the sad truth of it! Providing a sustainable public service has to be seen as a side-effect of catering to the market, otherwise you are running a charity and should register the enterprise as such. The Oval Just starting something to see if you can make-a-go-of-it helps no one, and is what most of the people who have taken these units have done. The units are there because someone who knew very little about people's behaviour, and even less about economics, drew them on a map because it looked like good "planning" at the time. They weren't relevant to the local economy in the car-less 1950's and are even less so these days. They took a bit of business away from the traditional shopping areas in the town and traditional corner stores - which were already too spread-out, and helped no one in the long run - let alone the Bedlington rent/ratepayer who ultimately had to pick up the bills for the folly. A bulldozer was mentioned! And, congratulations having the very good sense to ask local people what they think!

Just incase you don't, here's a memory jogger: