Broughty Ferry residents are being offered a last chance to comment on ambitious plans for a subterranean pavilion in Castle Green before the proposal is submitted to Dundee City Council.
The striking design by local architect Nicoll Russell Studios has already attracted considerable feedback since it was unveiled last month almost all of it positive, said Anya Lawrence of Broughty Ferry Development Trust.
Answering public demand for community facilities in the area, the pavilion would provide changing rooms, a cafe and an outdoor kiosk.
It would be built into the mounds between the barracks at Broughty Castle and the disused bathing shelter, which would be demolished.
The underground structure would also help to link the centre of Broughty Ferry to the beach without interrupting views of the Tay and the castle.
“We have had a goodly amount of feedback and now we want to try to get the stragglers, people who thought they would look at it later and would like to have a say,” Anya said.The full draft report can be viewed on the Broughty Ferry Development Trust website.”The feedback has been almost wholly positive, though a couple of people have said the plan looks very expensive and have asked why don’t we use the castle.
“But, basically, if you are on the beach and want services and changing facilities, the castle is in the wrong place,” she went on, adding that the historic building does not have suitable accommodation in any event and poses access problems for the less agile.
The design is included in a feasibility study on the future of the Castle Green area. Now the development trust hopes to finalise its report on the study by the end of the month so that it can be submitted to the local authority for consideration.
“We are hoping that Dundee City Council will say, ‘Yes, this is the sort of thing we want at the front. We don’t want a glorified pub or other things that have been proposed down there. We want to get rid of the bathing shelter, which is an eyesore, and this is the sort of thing we feel would be suitable for this site.’
“We want the council to say this is the kind of building they would like here so that when the next person comes along and wants to put some unfortunate development there the council will be able to say no right away.”
However, even if the plan is agreed in principle, there will still be the matter of finding funding.
“We never, ever thought we would get money from the council. That is not the plan,” said Anya. “There are various pots of money we can look at, including lottery money, but we haven’t got that far yet.
“There will be a meeting of the development trust committee next week at which we can look at where we go from here,” she added.