News / Italian eatery a step too far for planners
A LOCAL businessman is drumming up support to open a new Italian restaurant half way between Voe and Brae after receiving a less than enthusiastic response from Shetland Islands Council’s planning department.
Henry Francesco MacColl, whose mother hails from near Naples, hopes to build a 24-seat restaurant opposite his home at Parkgate overlooking Olna Firth.
MacColl, who has run specialist ventilation firm Isometric Engineering at Sella Ness for the past 17 years, said he wanted to offer customers an authentic Italian eating experience.
Ingredients at Enrico’s Cuccina di Napoli would all be imported directly from his mother’s native country, he said.
However his plans failed to whet the appetite of council officials who have come out strongly opposed to the development.
Officers said access by walking, cycling and public transport should be encouraged and as such the development could not be seen as “good placemaking”.
They said although the council was seeking to encourage new businesses, this development was in breach of a number of development plan policies.
MacColl said he could not believe his eyes when he read the document, adding that going out for a meal in Shetland usually required a car journey wherever you went.
He said the popular Braewick Café in Eshaness was also outside an existing settlement, while a burger van located at the Voe public toilets seemed to be doing a roaring trade from passing traffic.
“Why is the location a problem? The restaurant is going to be half way between Brae and Voe, and it is on the main road. The SIC is contradicting themselves,” the 51 year old said.
He added that cycling or walking to a restaurant was rarely an option in Shetland, and the bus timetable was not designed for such social events.
“We want to create a restaurant with a cosy and authentic Italian atmosphere – something you will not get anywhere else in Shetland.”
MacColl said that as a result of the planning department’s attitude he had put on hold his efforts to get his new business started.
He has cancelled a trip to a well known pizzeria in Italy to look at their pizza ovens/cookware, with the aim of making a purchase while there.
Instead he has launched a Facebook page to gather support for his venture and is meeting local councillor Alistair Cooper on Monday.
Senior SIC planning officer John Holden explained that all planning applications had to be considered in light of council policy.
“Ideally developments should take place where people don’t have to travel great distances,” he said.
“On the one hand planning gives encouragement to business, but on the other hand there are policies which would indicate that the proposal should not be supported.
“This is a proposal for a business in an area where not many people live so it would have to be travelled to, but if it was in a centre of population a lesser number of people would have to travel a greater distance to it.
“That said, it is always possible for an applicant to come forward with a justification which can be taken into account.”
SIC planners have delegated authority to grant or block planning applications without referring to councillors, unless there is an objection from a statutory body.
However if the planning department refuses the application, MacColl will have the right to appeal to the planning committee.
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