Annie and Belle Cafe (was: The shops thread)

[rmolehusband]

admin: Thread split from , and also note earlier discussion on planning application for 100 Portobello High St on the thread.

Despite the failure to obtain a change of use () there was some activity in the empty shop at 100 PHS - maybe getting a new retailer after all?

[Porty]

[Epykat]

The new Annie & Belle shop looks great already, and it's not even open yet

[wangi]

[Porty]

It looks very nice. Good luck to them, will be giving it a try next Saturday.

[Maria]

It looks very nice, but I thought this application was ?

[Porty]

[Epykat]

[Maria]

[Pal of Porty]

[Porty]

[wangi]

They're limited to four tables.

[Porty]

Well good luck to them.

[Annie Scott]

Hello there I am one of the co owners of Annie & Belle Cafe, and just wanted to say thank you for all the kind wishes and support we have received from the lovely people of Portobello, It has made us really happy and very relieved we have picked the best place for our new venture! I just wanted to let everyone know that the shop class use has not changed, we will be selling gifts and homewares and we have four tables for the cafe as the council have instructed. So wish us luck and we look forward to getting to know you all.

[Makaveli]

Good luck - will be in soon for a look!!!

[Maria]

Good luck Annie!

[Epykat]

Good luck Annie, we'll be in soon to relieve you of tea!

[rmolehusband]

[magbagpuss]

All the best of luck Annie and Belle , will be in to check out the coffee!!! C U soon . Wishing you a long, fruitful and happy time here in Porty !!

[seanie]

[Makaveli]

Did Diana Cairns not object to this even though the PCC OK it? Are the PCC scared of her?

[wangi]

[Puerto bella]

I was at the same Local Review Body meeting that Annie and Belle's appeal was up at. The LRB commented that they were in two minds about the appeal but as a result of the lack of support for the proposal from the community they fell on the side of refusing it. In other words if the community had supported it Annie and Belle would have got their permission.

[seanie]

Given recent enforcement actions and applications, the Planning Department may be a bit more sensitive to change of use issues. In this instance the application was judged to be a breach of the current regulations so the odds were stacked against it, but if there had been significant public support and/or no objections then the outcome may've been different.

There's a proposed change to the development plan whereby generic numerical quotas for retail premises are removed in favour of guideline tailored to local circumstances. That might help in circumstances like this but it'll be some time before any changes are adopted even in draft form.

[Porty]

[Puerto bella]

In answer to your question: its possible but we wont ever know that now the time has passed, unless of course Annie and Belle had the stomach for another go at it.
Remember that the Planning Committee are a different beast albeit with the same suit on to the LRB and have a different function.
The conclusion I took from it was if you want something to happen in this city you have to make it happen and get people to actively support your proposal. The elected members are too easily swayed by what they think is public opinion when it isnt necessarily the case.

[Pal of Porty]

They obviously think that Community Councils represent the views of the community - having just read all the above it looks like our Community Council does not even represent itself!

[seanie]

Therein lies a perennial problem.

Even quite small applications can generate a sizeable number of objections from people near a proposal, especially if someone goes to the effort of encouraging and coordinating the effort. Dislike or anger is a strong motivator.

But even applications that people on the whole are well disposed to or even like, rarely generate much in the way of vocal support. Maybe people assume that everyone else will like it too, but for whatever reason it's far less common to get supporting comments, except on rare occasions like the High School where people were very concious of the campaign against an so made the effort to counteract that.

And what you never, ever see, are people writing in to say they aren't that bothered which is probably the majority opinion in most instances. Add in that most people have enough on their plate without following developments on the Planning Portal, and it's no wonder that what genuinely constitutes 'public opinion' may be difficult to discern.

[Chas]

[seanie]

Annie & Belle's now have an on-line .

[Porty]

[seanie]

There wasn't an 11-2 vote in favour of the first application, just 11-2 not to object. That was the only question put to the vote; whether to object or not. On reflection maybe the various options should've been voted to get a clearer picture: Who wants to object? Who wants to support? Who wants to simply comment?

[Porty]

Fair enough.

However, it doesn't really matter how the vote goes, John and Diana pitch the response to suit themselves.

[Maria]

[Maria]

Should have made it more clear in my previous post that the Sept.letter of comment submitted for the application at 100 Portobello High Street (Annie and Belle's) was inline with June's letter of comment, submitted for the similar application at 121 Portobello High Street, for which the 11-2 vote was taken.

Both letters clearly stated in the first sentence, that they were letters of comment and both were circulated round PCC members prior to submission.