A popular north-east rare breeds farm is to be closed by Aberdeen City Council after community takeover plans were “credit-crunched”, it emerged last night.
Doonies Farm was originally earmarked for closure a year ago under the council’s massive budget cutbacks – before campaigners were given six months to prove it could be run as a business.
Yesterday, six months after the reprieve, it emerged that officials will ask councillors to terminate the temporary leasing agreement with Friends of Doonies and dispose of the site at Nigg.
A council spokesman said last night there could still be hope for Doonies if a sponsor is found, but it is expected the farm will shut in June if no backer comes forward.
Friends of Doonies chairman John Sleigh said: “We tried our absolute utmost to get hold of the interim funding we needed for the business plan to work.
“Doonies was effectively credit-crunched because amid the global downturn our backers were finding it difficult to donate to us.
“As a board we knew we did not have that money and so it would have been irresponsible for us to continue.
“The team are totally gutted. We are really upset, having put so much effort in, for it to fall at the last hurdle.”
Mr Sleigh said visitors had increased by 50% since Doonies was taken over last August, but the group was short of the £150,000 needed to keep it running.
Aberdeen South Labour MP Anne Begg said: “From everything I have heard, particularly from people who have been trying to run Doonies, the council has almost been trying to thwart their efforts at every turn.
“If the council hadn’t been so obstructive they would have made it a success.”
It is understood that the council was owed about £40,000 in running costs, and that councillors will be asked to shut it down at next Tuesday’s resources management committee meeting.
A council spokesman said: “Aberdeen City Council entered into an agreement to allow Friends of Doonies to run the farm because the group put forward a business plan which stated it could meet the running costs. This was fundamental but has proved not to be possible.”