Rose Garden Cafe: Protestors aim to lobby Sheffeld Council and present petition to save cafe in Graves Park

The petition to save and re-open Rose Garden Cafe, in Graves Park, off Hemsworth Rd, between Norton, Meadowhead and Woodseats, in Sheffield, has now reached 11,000 signatures and is due to be presented to a full meeting of Sheffield City Council on Wednesday, November 2, at the Town Hall.

Petition organiser and young mum Liz Hnat from Norton said: “We now have 11,000 signatures on the petition calling on Sheffield City Council to repair and reopen the Rose Garden Cafe in Graves Park which we are sadly missing.”

She added: “The council gave the cafe’s 12 staff fifteen minutes to get out before changing the locks, boarding up the windows and doors and closing down a much loved and popular meeting place which acted as a critically important social hub, especially during the recent pandemic. The people who have signed this petition want the café reinstated, stabilised and refurbished to protect the character and shape of a building which is part of our heritage and has been important to park users and visitors for generations since it was built in 1927 from the gift of JG Graves, after whom the park is named.

“Our Save the Rose Garden Cafe Campaign is as much about saving those 12 jobs which have been lost as it is in protecting our heritage and Sheffield Council should recognise that these workers are out of work as a direct result of failing to maintain this café building over many years, despite receiving rental income from the operator Brewkitchen which employs the staff.

“On Wednesday, we will be handing in the petition and looking every councillor in the eye, holding them to account for this crisis which is of their own making and we are so grateful to everyone who has supported us. We will not rest until this café is repaired and reopened.”

Protestors aim to gather outside the town hall between 12.30pm and 2pm. The Rose Garden Café in Graves Park which was built in 1927 was forced to close on July 27 after a council report concluded its roof was unstable.