Local residents are objecting to plans to expand the operation of Planet Bar’s outdoor seating area below their windows at 6 Baxter’s Place.
Planet’s application will be considered at the Licensing Board on 29 August, where objectors hope to make their case in person.
The case concerns Planet’s application for a Variation of Premises licence which, if approved, would among other things let it extend working hours to 3 a.m. from Thursday to Sunday, with seasonal variations.
Planet also wants restaurant and bar hours both within and outwith core hours, including outdoor eating and drinking.
The tenements above Planet are fully occupied by residents, and – because they’re listed properties – tend to have poor sound insulation through old-fashioned single-glazed sashes.
Locals here say they already experience disturbance, and don’t want negative impacts on their amenity to continue or get worse.
The bar’s drift into the great outdoors began in April 2021, when Covid guidance for social gatherings began to be relaxed. That expansion was authorised under temporary concessions to help the stricken hospitality industry, and ceased at the end of December that year.
Neighbours were therefore surprised when outdoor activity started up again, apparently without consultation or permission, in spring 2022.
Opponents note that Baxter’s Place falls within one of the Council’s own areas of overprovision, part of its 2018 Statement of Licensing Policy (Appendix 2).
Overprovision restrictions have been only patchily (if at all) applied in recent years and are the object of increased scrutiny now that a new Statement of Licensing Policy is being prepared.
The case again highlights tensions between Edinburgh’s drive to support a thriving city-centre economy, and duty to defend the legitimate expectations of passing pedestrians and a permanent city-centre population.
Spurtle will return to the topic in Issue 321, published on 1 September.