Union Terrace Gardens café plan wins approval

Park: The timber café cabin and seating area will be located beneath one of the central archways. Steve Bothwell represents the group behind the plans.Gary Cruden

Councillors have backed plans to create a temporary café in Union Terrace Gardens.

The timber café cabin and seating area will be located beneath one of the central archways.

The plans, put forward by Café 52 owner Steve Bothwell, were backed under the condition that the temporary building is removed from the site a year after planning permission is granted, and that the site is made good within a month of the building being removed.

Mr Bothwell, a member of Common Good Aberdeen which is opposed to the £140m City Garden Project, said all of the profits from the ‘Summerhouse Cooperative Café’ will be used to “provide funding for enhancements and improvements to the gardens”.

He said he hopes the café, which will be staffed entirely by volunteers, can raise £30,000 in 2012.

Mr Bothwell said: "Our campaign group, Common Good Aberdeen, put an application in for a summerhouse co-operative café. We are aware of the City Gardens Project still being on the table, it still exists, but we were very, very worried about the lack of funding for Union Terrace Garden's maintenance, the gardening and the flower planting, so we applied for planning permission with a view to raising funds for improvements to the gardens and we're delighted it has been successful.

"[If the gardens go ahead] we would have to remove the summerhouse and locate it somewhere else."

The project had received support from Rosemount and Mile End Community Council.

Councillor John Corall sought reassurance from officials at the development management sub committee that the café would not be able to hold up any future developments at the Victorian park.

He was told Mr Bothwell would need to reapply for planning permission if he wished the café to remain in place after the year was up.

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