ABERDEEN councillors have been urged to reject plans to retain a popular marquee at city’s Dutch Mill hotel.
The hotel and bar issued grave warnings of “considerable” redundancies when Aberdeen City Council ordered the removal of its popular shelter by the end of January.
The local authority said the large white structure, erected to keep business afloat during the pandemic, looked out of place in its granite surroundings.
In a bid to keep al fresco service alive at the Queens Road site, Dutch Mill bosses applied to instead put up a smaller £30,000 marquee designed to blend in with the rest of the street.
However, those plans also look set to be rejected, unless councillors defy officers when they meet on Thursday.
In papers released ahead of the meeting, planners say they cannot back the scheme.
“Due to the location of the structure in the frontage area of the building, its form and proposed materials, it is considered that the proposal would have an unacceptable impact on the character of the Albyn/Rubislaw Conservation Area,” the report says
Officers also warn that approving the scheme could “set an undesirable precedent” for other such canopies to spring up along the street.
The report adds: “These considerations outweigh the benefits to the business, local economy and community.
“In the context of Covid-19 social distancing requirements being eased, it is considered that there is no longer any compelling justification for this development.”
