A student entrepreneur who wants to open a pub next to a chaplaincy in Old Aberdeen has defended his proposals against hundreds of complaints.
Juliusz Matraszek, who studies management at Aberdeen University, launched plans to convert a B-listed property on High Street, close to King’s College into a bar earlier this year.
But despite receiving a support from students and the university’s director of estates, there has also been a mass of objections from many Old Aberdeen residents.
Some of the most vocal objectors have been the Rev Jakub Czakja and the Rev Maximillian Martin, who are based at the university’s Roman Catholic Chaplaincy next door to the site of the proposed boozer.
They had previously raised fears that Mr Matraszek’s planned business would interfere with their duties, which include assisting students in need of pastoral care and emotional support.
They also highlighted that the chaplaincy’s windows would have overlooked a proposed beer garden – though the plans have now been amended to remove the outdoor drinking area.
Mr Matraszek said he had altered the plans in November after advice from the city council’s environmental health team, who said they would not be able to support the scheme due to noise impact on the rear chaplaincy building.
And last night, Mr Matraszek insisted the project should go ahead and pointed to other university campuses with bars.
He said: “I would like to draw your attention to other historic towns that are mixed with university campuses – St Andrews University, Oxford University, and Cambridge University.
“These are historic towns that are filled with numerous spaces catering to all, teeming with life and co-existing with the community in harmony.
“This will be a well-respected establishment that will mirror the majority of students, and will soon be seen as an inadequate destination for those who cannot behave.
“Our mission is not to create a pub which will provide individuals with a proclivity for loutish behaviour with another venue to act in such a manner.
“We are determined to repurpose and renew this historic building while filling an evident community niche that has to be filled. Old Aberdeen needs to evolve.”