Rose Garden Cafe: Partnership between Sheffield Council and campaigners could agree Graves Park building restoration

Andy Kershaw, co-chair of the Save the Rose Garden Cafe campaign, said he understands that Sheffield City Council will consider adopting a partnership approach to saving and restoring the Rose Garden Cafe in Graves Park.

He said that the campaign has had sight of proposals which see all potential options that include demolition or inaction paused and a proposal for a Rose Garden Cafe partnership strategy. That would be put to a special meeting of the council’s charity sub-committee being held just to discuss the issue on October 18.

The campaign has been working alongside the Friends of Graves Park to push for the building to be restored and fully reopened. The cafe was closed suddenly last July because of council concerns over the structural safety of the building and only partially reopened in December after extensive supports were put in place.

The council has refused to comment on future plans until papers for the meeting are published on October 10.

Mr Kershaw said that plans for the cafe would be informed by a public consultation to see what community needs are for building users. A partnership could bring together the council and interested parties such as the campaign and Friends group to look at raising the money needed to restore and repair the building.

The Friends group have already worked on funding proposals but stressed that they are only willing to work on a plan that will retain the original building, rather than replacing it.

Mr Kershaw said that the campaign would back such a plan, adding: “This all looks reasonable and we will assist in co-designing the public consultation and at all times be advocating for the cafe to be saved and reinstated as we demanded over a year ago now.”

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A council estimate of the cost of works involved says that structural stabilisation of the building and full refurbishment would be £1,790,000. Structural stabilisation with “light touch refurbishment to cafe interiors only” would cost £911,000, the council estimates.

The building, which dates back to 1927, has just been included on the South Yorkshire Heritage List. The list was set up by South Yorkshire Archaeology Service to catalogue heritage assets that are valued as contributing to the distinctiveness and history of South Yorkshire but that are not protected by statutory national designations, such as listing or scheduling.

Coun Ian Auckland, chair of the charity trustee sub-committee, said: “The papers for the extraordinary charity sub-committee meeting will be issued on October 10. Those papers will outline the proposals that members of the committee will discuss.

“Officers have been working on a range of proposals, but these have not been discussed yet or seen by councillors. Until those proposals have been discussed, we are unable to comment on the expected outcome.”

Whatever is proposed to the committee on October 18 is sure to be looked at avidly by many Sheffielders who have backed the campaign. An online petition to save the building, not demolish it, has 10,146 signatures.