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Protesters
Fail To Halt Curry House Move
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A curry
restaurant is set to relocate to an upmarket Edinburgh West End
street despite strong opposition from neighbours.
The new Indian
Cavalry Club in Coates Crescent will boast a restaurant and pakora
bar on two levels, providing space for 160 diners and serving Indian
cuisine not readily available in Scotland, including Kerala seafood
and vegetable dishes from south India.
Twelve letters
of objection to an earlier proposal were sent to the city council,
with residents of the prestigious street fearing the new development
would reduce the value of their properties, increase the fire risk
and create bad smells, noise and traffic problems.
Owner Shahid
Chowdhury, who has 20 years' experience in the industry, withdrew his
original application and submitted a more detailed plan in a bid to
convince neighbours the restaurant would not have an adverse effect
on their quality of life.
He vowed to
have the new premises darkened and locked by midnight to ensure
householders were not disturbed - whereas last orders at the current
restaurant must be taken by 11.30pm.
He said waste
would be collected by a private company each day in sealed bins to
limit bad smells and a new ventilation system would be put in place
to control cooking odours.
Planning
chiefs have recommended that councillors give the new restaurant
change of use consent despite the fresh application sparking another
ten letters of objection.
Head of
planning Alan Henderson said the area was predominantly in office use
and that there would be very little if any increase in traffic and
parking pressures.
A new
emergency door, he added, would address fire fears while a condition
should be placed to ensure satisfactory disabled access.
But Yvonne
Holton of the Cockburn Association said the heritage watchdog was
concerned the change of use would set an "undesirable
precedent" for other properties.
Leslie Munro
of Coates Crescent said: "Mr Chowdhury did not purchase the
property with a view to enhancing the area's character. He is a
businessman, and he is looking to maximise the return from his investment.
"He has
been quoted as saying that it is his ambition to open a flagship
restaurant, the biggest and finest Indian restaurant in the city.
"He took
a risk in buying the property before it was certain that alterations
would be permitted or a change of use allowed.
"Businessmen
are prepared to take big risks if they think that there is a lot of
money to be made."
Another
objector, Linda Farquharson, said the character of the area was
residential and raised concerns over smokers "loitering" outside.
"Despite
attempts to put in highly sophisticated extraction systems it is a
well known fact that in certain weather conditions fumes cannot be
prevented and again our neighbourhood will accordingly suffer",
she said.
"I will
also suffer if the toilets are vented into the yard at the rear which
area I use as an exterior patio.
"I am to
be a prisoner in my own home - overlooked at the front and overcome
at the rear!"
Mr Chowdhury,
who has already received listed building consent, said: "I am
pleased because we have done a lot of hard work and tried to address
every objection and I am sure like the planning officials the people
who have objected will be satisfied."(Edinburgh Evening News)
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