New Edinburgh city centre Asian cafe approved at former South Bridge retail unit
Plans to change an Edinburgh city centre retail unit into a new cafe have been approved by the council.
Lagana Limited submitted an application in December for a change of use from class 1A (shops and financial, professional and other services) to a class 3 (restaurants and cafés) and alterations to the internal layout to form a new kitchen and servery.
External alterations at the former Galaxy Clearance Store at 91 South Bridge include an extract to the rear and the painting of the shop front, to turn it into Asian cafe Chayan.
The plans show that the new cafe will have serving, customer and preparation areas on the ground floor, with a storage area in the lower ground floor.
The plans were approved on February 4 by the council’s chief planning officer David Givan, who said: “The proposed change of use is acceptable in principle at this location and any potential impacts on neighbouring amenity can be limited through the use of a condition.
“The proposed alterations are acceptable in design terms, the proposal is acceptable with regards to the global climate and nature cruses and there are no overriding transport matters.
“The proposed changes are mostly internal and therefore do not have a detrimental impact on the surrounding Old Town Conservation Area. The external alterations involve the painting of the shop front.
“However, this is a modest change within the context of the town centre. The character of the conservation area is preserved as the change of use is reflective of the wider area.
“There are no material considerations which indicate that the proposal should be refused. Therefore, the proposal is acceptable.”
The application site is a mid-terrace ground floor shop unit with a basement level located on South Bridge. There is residential use above and the unit is within the designated Nicolson Street/Clerk Street Town Centre.
The applicant now has three years to carry out the required works to implement this change of use. A condition was added to the approval that cooking, heating and reheating operations on the premises shall be restricted to the use of two soup urns, a microwave, panini machine only.
This planning application received no public comments on the council’s online planning portal.
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