Sheffield Lib Dems fight to save the Rose Garden Café

The Sheffield Liberal Democrats have pledged their support of the Save the Rose Garden Café campaign, in advance of a petition being submitted to a meeting of the Full Council today at 2pm.

The petition, which has been signed by close to 11,000 residents, calls on the Council to repair the Rose Garden Café in Graves Park, which was unexpectedly closed on July 27th with no notice after a council report found that its roof was unstable and a risk to visitors.

The campaign groups are planning to gather in protest outside the Town Hall between 12:30 and 2pm today, before submitting the petition to the Council Meeting. Lib Dem councillors are expected to speak at the protest.

At a recent South Local Area Committee (LAC) meeting, Councillor Ian Auckland, the Lib Dem member for Graves Park ward, has pledged to contribute £10,000 from his ward’s funds, along with Councillor Simon Clement-Jones, the Lib Dem member for neighbouring Beauchief and Greenhill.

Councillor Auckland expressed his support for the campaign, stating that “I regard the Rose Garden Café as the beating heart of the park, and the entire ward. I want to take the passion of the campaigners forward to repair the café, to renew the café, and to make Graves Park the best, greenest, most environmentally friendly park in the entire country”.

Councillor Auckland also suggested that the trusteeship of the park should be transferred to the South LAC, which would bring decision making on the park out of the town hall and closer to the residents who enjoy the park’s facilities.

The full council is not expected to commit to a way forward for the Café, as it is still waiting on full information from surveyors regarding the structural integrity of the building. Work to produce a list of options is still in the early stages, with contractors currently installing props to allow access to the roof for inspection.

However, Lib Dem councillors will be raising questions surrounding how Sheffield City Council allowed this building to reach such a state of disrepair at the Full Council meeting.

Shockingly, a report from October 2018 shows that the Labour administration was aware of the issues with the café. The report, which was undertaken as part of regular data collection on the Council estate, graded the overall café’s condition as C (Poor), with its roof given the lowest score of D (Bad – Non operational or about to fail).

When challenged on this report at a meeting of the Charity Trustee sub-committee, Labour Councillor Bryan Lodge simply stated that following the findings of the report, the recommendation was considered but no action was taken.

Councillor Clement-Jones, chair of the South LAC, stated “I’m incredibly disappointed by the situation at the Rose Garden Café. This Council needs to take a long look at how this has been allowed to happen. Neglecting maintenance for so many years is simply irresponsible use of taxpayer money, as the costs to repair a dilapidated building are so much higher than upkeep. The previous do-nothing Labour administration, through its neglect of its buildings, has completely failed to provide value for money for Sheffield residents”.

The Rose Garden Café campaign is unfolding in the context of broader concern around the Council’s estate. The amount of ‘critical and essential’ maintenance required across all Council buildings over the next 5 years is estimated at £48,000,000, according to a report coming to the Finance Sub-Committee next week.

Lib Dem Councillor Richard Williams, chair of the Communities, Parks and Leisure sub-committee, expressed his concern over this, stating that “What has happened at the Rose Garden Café needs to be a wake up call for this Council. We must take a serious look at how we manage our buildings, and we must review how the income generated in the parks is used going forwards. Who knows how many more Rose Garden Cafés are waiting to be discovered?”