Plans to rennovate the front of the Students Union have received criticism from Cardiff UniversityÔÇÖ Allotment Society. Members of the society, which offers the chance for student gardeners to grow fresh, natural produce, oppose plans for the construction of a new staircase outside the Union. The plans have been put forward by the universityÔÇÖs operations board and have been approved by many university stakeholders.
However, the new infrastructure is to be built upon the spare allotment currently undeveloped outside the Union. The society had made plans to use this land to grow their own plants and flowers, creating an attractive garden for the exterior of the building.
Society heads have criticised the UniversityÔÇÖs plans, claiming that more unnecessary infrastructure will not benefit the ÔÇ£outdatedÔÇØ look of the Union but a garden can add an appealing aesthetic. They also point to concerns raised in the past about the health and safety problems the current staircase poses and suggest that an additional staircase could increase the amount of such problems.
However, the society have been accused of making promises they cannot keep. Their plans for a garden would require them to maintain a large allotment for an indeterminate amount of time. The Union has not expressed any intention of spending money on maintaining such a project, meaning the onus falls solely upon the society to tend to the garden.
Plans for construction on the staircase, however, have been announced to begin in March, brought forward from the five or six yearsÔÇÖ time previously insinuated.
Helena Branch
News Writer
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