A HISTORICAL landmark in Aberdeen could be handed over to dolphin-spotting locals for 20 years for just £1 annually.
Councillors are reportedly being urged to hand over the Torry Battery, which dates back to 1860 and was used to defend the Granite City in the First and Second World Wars, to a local charity.
Greyhope Bay Ltd runs a popular cafe at the site and has ambitious plans to turn the site into an attraction for keen dolphin-spotters as they say the area is one of the best in the UK to spot the aquatic mammals.
The charity plans to lease the Torry Battery for 20-years and wants to carry out a range of expensive repairs to the landmark with council legal chiefs reportedly saying the coastal site should be handed over for just £1 a year.
In 2020 Aberdeen City Council agreeded permission for Greyhope Bay Ltd to install a shipping container on the site which was converted into a cafe.
Keen to create a centre for observing the area’s famous dolphins, the charity now wants to expand the cafe with another unit to be used for education and workshop space.
There are also plans for an outdoor amphitheater and transforming the Guard House into an exhibition room, with the old storerooms becoming an outdoor market space for one-off events, and repairs costing around £1 million for the historic walls.
However, various grants needed for the charity’s vision of a dolphin-spotting attraction cannot be obtained unless the council leases Torry Battery to them, the Press and Journal reported.
Officials are apparently urging councillors to agree to the proposals at a meeting next week.
They said: “This proposal will also ensure that the scheduled monument is maintained and enhanced to enable a viable future for the site, without detracting from its status.”
A report said the idea of the £1 yearly rent is “not unreasonable”, given the “estimated cost of the works to repair, develop and maintain the Torry Battery”.
They said that Greyhope Bay Ltd is committed to “ensuring there is no further deterioration to the Torry Battery during the period of the lease”.
Documents submitted by the charity explained the current centre is “too small for the high demand, and competing interests of the café, community workshops and events within the same small space”.
