A despairing Aberdeen woman can’t open up a burger van near Pittodrie as the council has plans for the land – despite having no idea when any work might take place there.
Emma Williamson says she spoke to various local authority departments in her bid to launch her business across from the home of the Dons.
She even went so far as to hammer out a deal with Aberdeen FC bosses not to compete with a Pittodrie staple – assuring them she “wouldn’t sell pies”.
But her plans fell apart at the last minute – when council chiefs told her the piece of land was off limits as it comes under their Beach Masterplan vision.
This is despite the long-term future of the project being plunged into uncertainty amid a lack of cash.
And the exasperated applicant was left questioning whether it could be as long as 15 years before anything actually happens with the site of the flattened Broadhill Bar.
Pittodrie burger van plan goes before councillors
Ms Williamsion revealed her predicament during a meeting of Aberdeen City Council’s licensing committee.
She explained that she thought the unused spot would be perfect for her venture.
Ms Williamson said: “Where I picked would not cause any traffic concerns.
“I thought that bit of land was sat there doing nothing for so long.
“And I even spoke to someone in charge of Pittodrie about using that space to serve football fans, and told them I would not serve pies or sell Aberdeen FC memorabilia.”
‘There’s only so many ways you can change a burger’
What’s more, the aspiring burger van trader explained that her chosen location would not bring her into competition with similar operators along The Esplanade.
She told the meeting: “This location means I am not affecting another local business, being 15m away from someone selling the same product…
“I was trying to be fair. The Esplanade has got so much.
“There are only so many ways you can change a burger, it’s still the same burger with the same bacon. I was trying not to take someone else’s livelihood.”
So why was the Pittodrie burger van plan refused?
Council estates officials attended the recent licensing hearing to explain why they had ruled the location out.
A senior official said: “It’s key we keep that free, because there are going to be grounds investigations.
“We have had other people apply for that site but it’s actually included in the Beach Masterplan.
“While we did consider if there was potential, even if just for the short-term, it’s really not something we can look at this stage.”
‘When will anything ever happen with this site?’
Ms Williamson complained that she had looked into various potential pitfalls before stumping up more than £200 on the application.
“I contacted everyone I could before I put that location in, no-one knew anything about this,” she said.
“It was only the day before it was to be granted that I found out about it being connected the masterplan.
“I asked the relevant officer about it, and she couldn’t confirm if it would be five, 10 or 15 years though.
“Is there anything I could do for the short-term?”
Could the burger van go somewhere else?
Councillors at the meeting sympathised with Ms Williamson’s situation.
During talks, it was agreed to look into possible alternative sites for the burger van – and to waive the fee she had paid for this application.
Do you think the burger van should have been given a licence to operate near Pittodrie? Let us know in our comments section below
Abandoned Aberdeen
The vacant Broadhill Bar site is one of 65 pieces of vacant and derelict land highlighted in a new Scottish Government drive to spark development.
We had a look at how the amount of abandoned land in Aberdeen has grown over the past eight years.
There are 32 more recorded derelict or vacant spaces than in 2016.
Read more:
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