Councillors voted on Thursday to review a decision concerning a lease of business premises in South Queensferry

The council had been working to lease additional premises on The Loan to South Queensferry’s Dune Bakery with the owner of the bakery Lewis Gill claiming the local authority backed out of the deal close to the date he thought he would get access to the premises. Mr Gill said he has already spent £20,000 on planning and legal fees.

At Thursday’s full council meeting, the matter was put to the council as an emergency by Liberal Democrat councillor, Lewis Younie, who asked that the decision is referred to the next meeting of the council’s Finance & Resources Committee in a couple of weeks time.

Cllr Younie asked that:

  • Council notes; 1. That Dune Bakery, as an award winning business, is a successful and welcome addition to Queensferry’s High Street and welcomes their ambition to expand their operations in the town.
  • 2. Dune Bakery had expended considerable expense in preparing to take over a lease of a council owned lot, which has sat vacant for over a year, to provide another venue for their operations.
  • Council regrets; 3. That the lease which had been notionally agreed between the Council and Dune was suddenly refused to them on Friday 24th October, when they had made arrangements to begin remodelling works on Monday 27th October.
  • 4. That this left Dune Bakery with considerable expense and has negatively affected the perception of the Council’s attitude towards small businesses in Queensferry resulting in over 200 individual emails to ward councillors.
  • Council Agrees 5. That a) as this issue arose after the deadline for motions, b) there is no further Council meeting before the next scheduled meeting of the Finance & Resources Committee, this represents an urgent matter, and c) instructs officers to take no further action on the site until the Finance & Resources meeting on the 18th
  • 6. To refer the lease award decision to the meeting of Finance and Resources Committee on Tuesday 18th November, due to the politically contentious nature of and the widespread concern over the decision arrived at by officers under delegated authority.

Mr Gill said he was pleased with the decision. He said: “I’m very happy that everyone decided to vote in favour of Cllr Younie’s motion postponing the decision, barring the Conservatives.

“I hope that common sense will prevail here, it would be a win-win and put the community’s faith back in the council.”

The bakery had bid to take over a council-owned space at Unit 31 the Loan which they planned to turn into a community-oriented area and a local market.

But council officers advised they were no longer in a position to continue negotiations regarding the lease, saying they needed the space for archives.

Cllr Younie said: “The way Dune has been treated is simply unacceptable, especially after the excitement surrounding their expansion plans and the work already undertaken to prepare for the new premises.

“Over recent days, we have been pressing council officials to reconsider their decision and allow Dune to proceed with the lease. Officers are, however, standing by their position.

“In response, my Liberal Democrat group and I tabled an emergency motion at today’s meeting of Edinburgh Council to pause the officers’ plans and get this in front of the relevant committee on 18th November to re-examine the decision.

“We stand fully behind Dune Bakery and share the concerns they have raised. We will continue to do everything we can to support not only Dune and their customers, but Queensferry as a whole.”

Dune opened early last year in a converted bookies shop on the High Street.

Mr Gill said the new space would help his business, given that it would offer customers a bigger space to come and enjoy their “sweet treats”.

The proposed lease was to run for ten years, with a possible ten year extension down the line.

Dune Bakery had bid £4,000 over the council’s asking price for the lease during the legal process to acquire the space.

Speaking after the council backed out, Mr Gill said: “When they called and said they had bad news, I just thought the date of entry was getting pushed a couple of days – I was not expecting them to completely pull out of it.

“I’d been putting in a lot of work and looking to hire more people and sourcing equipment, trying to plan the whole thing.

“I was disappointed, and really angry. This isn’t a private landlord, it’s the council, they should operate at a higher standard than this. It’s no wonder no one ever trusts them.”

Earlier this week, a council spokesperson said: “We’re grateful to the Dune Bakery for their interest in leasing this space and are sorry we’re not able to take this forward.

“We’ve written to the business to apologise and explain – and have offered to cover the costs they’ve incurred to date.”

By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Related