MIXED VIEWS ON ROSE STREET
Mambo Bars & Clubs Edinburgh Ltd seeks planning consent to site a hot food vehicle on the pavement outside 43 Rose Street (21/06500/FUL).
The company seeks temporary permission for two years.
The wagon would supplement the adjacent Señor Dog's pub/restaurant.
Some will look askance at this, objecting in principle to public space being taken over. However, it’s not clear to the Spurtle who owns the pavement at this point.
Others may say that the street is already congested enough here, remembering the bar’s informally fenced off area of outside seating when the premises operated as Rosehip (see Google Street View).
Others still will point out that the proposed vehicle would be sited within that informal area, and so would not add to any congestion unless perhaps large crowds gather outside it waiting to get access.
There are those who fear this could simply be the thin end of the potato wedge, and that multiple outdoor outlets could effectively become a permanent feature of the street, substantially altering its character and that of the conservation area.
Many though may argue that small hospitality businesses like this one need all the help and space they can get during current pandemic conditions. Señor Dog's has opened only earlier this month, but is closed today owing to a 'staff crisis' and Covid.
There will of course be concern among neighbours about whether increased footfall here would generate significant additional noise and disturbance for local residents. (These are 'loud dawgs' after all.) However, officials rarely seem to lose sleep over that issue these days.
Comments – neutral, for or against – are invited here by 28 January 2022.
