6
Flat out opposition
By STEPHEN RAFFERTYATTEMPTS BY former Bross Bagels owner
Larah Bross to “phoenix” her failed
sandwich company has suffered another
blow with the closure of a second outlet.
Now trading as Hot Mama Bagels Ltd,
but using the same outlets and branding
as the former Bross Bagels Ltd, the
company’s Stockbridge shop has closed
without notice.
The unit in affluent St Stephen Street
now lies empty with just a few items of
equipment left behind and no explanation
or notice to alert customers of the closure.
It follows the same fate as the firm’s
flagship store in St James Quarter, which
closed just two months after Bross Bagels
entered liquidation with debts of around
£1 million.
It now means “Bross Bagels” has just two
units in operation at Bruntsfield and
Portobello and the latest closure is a
significant blow to Ms Bross’s promise to
“grow Hot Mama Bagels into a thriving
business” and to repay crowdfunders and
suppliers who have been left high and dry.BROSS HOLESALE
Bross Bagels was placed into liquidation
on 3 August but not before Ms Bross had
sold the physical and IP assets of the
business to her new start-up company
Hot Mama Bagels Ltd for just £18,000.
The two existing units are said to be
run by business turnaround specialists,
Bar Restaurant Solutions, while Larah
Bross claims to be focusing on “brand
and marketing”.
In a separate development, Bross
Holesale Ltd - a company in which
Ms Bross and Bross Bagels Ltd were
shareholders - has applied to Companies
House to be dissolved and struck off
the register.
The business appears to have never
traded or filed company accounts.
The liquidators’ interim report revealed
Bross Bagels had debts of £970,000, with
His Majesty’s Inland Revenue due the
largest amount of £635,000. Included in
the list of creditors was £144,000 due to
so-called Shareholers - people who had
contributed £1,000 each in two rounds of
crowdfunding to apparently support the
growth of the business.
A spokesman for Hot Mama Bagels Ltd
said: “We decided to shift our energies on
our two performing shops. We loved being
in Stockbridge and hope in the future we
can reassess.”Bross Bagels
sliced in half
Edinburgh residents resist developers’ proposals for more student flats
By PHYLLIS STEPHENTHREE DEVELOPMENTS of purpose built
student accommodation (PBSA) have been, or
are being considered, in separate areas of the
city - and all attracted hundreds of objections
from local residents. In the face of the council
announcing a housing emergency, many believe
that housing should be the priority.EYRE PLACE LANE
The first is in Eyre Place Lane where CA
Ventures, an American student flat developer,
lodged new applications for student flats and
townhouses on the former Jewson’s yard now
owned by Daltons the scrap merchants. This is
an individual case where the developer did not
wait for the council to set a hearing first time
round, preferring to use a the delay to appeal the
applications straight to the Government
Reporter who refused permission.
The developers went back to the drawing board
and lodged applications of new - but the planning
committee refused these.
Cllr Chas Booth said to the developers’
representatives at the planning meeting: “What
we have heard from residents is that they are
keen to see development on this site – but
appropriate development, development that
meets the needs of the communities, and also
complies with our Local Development Plan.
Unfortunately I think that this application
before us does neither of those things.
“So I would appeal to the developers, please
go away and listen to the local community, listen
to their concerns and come back with an
application that meets the needs of the local
community while also complying with our Local
Development Plan, and we will look on it a lot
more favourably.”JOCK’S LODGE
A PBSA development at Jock’s Lodge has been
approved by the Reporter on appeal. This will be
flats for 191 students, despite the hundreds of
objections. It was also a drawn out planning
wrangle as the original application was refused
by the council.
Local SNP councillor Danny Aston, who
campaigned against the proposal, said: “I’m so
gutted for the local residents who drove forwardthe campaign to Save Jock’s Lodge – volunteers
who worked tirelessly in the interests of the local
community. But most of all, I’m very concerned
about the impact of this plan, if built in its
present form, on the local community through
the damage it will cause to the Jock’s Lodge local
centre – the closest thing we have in this area to
a high street.
“I find it very hard to see how the Reporter
has come to the conclusion that this plan doesn’t
harm local retail provision at Jock’s Lodge
sufficiently to warrant dismissing the appeal,
quite apart from the other issues like the
gargantuan size.”GILLESPIE CRESCENT
Developers plan to demolish a building owned
by Sight Scotland and replace it with PBSA.
This proposal will create 145 bedrooms with
“additional amenities including a cinema/
multimedia room and gym”. Residents object to
the move, partly on the basis that there arefactual inaccuracies in the application.
Christian Traynor a local resident said: “At the
developers’ public meeting the proposal was five
storeys high. Afterwards we realised their
drawings depicted six storeys, artfully obscured
to obfuscate this fact. It looks like they
knowingly gave us false information.
“The proposals have now been amended to
five storeys apparently in response to residents’
comments. But this is disingenuous and is we
have found the standard ruse which was used at
Eyre Place Lane in Canonmills, and at the St
Joseph’s Convent development in Gilmore Place.
The developers always propose an extra floor,
knowing the height will be objected to, so they
can later remove it for it to appear as if they are
being considerate to neighbours.”
Since 2010 and until 30 September last year
the council approved 14,884 bed spaces in PBSA
developments. That figure has now increased,
and in the same period the council approved
40,953 dwelling houses.NEWS
THE EDINBURGH Tool Library run a programme called
Tools for Life and the next sign up date is in February- This is a three month long mentoring programme
which teaches anyone over 16 that they can acquire the
basic and fundamental skills of woodworking and DIY.
Not only do participants learn useful life skills the idea
is to empower them and boost their confidence at the
same time.
For more information, please visit the website at:
http://www.edinburghtoollibrary.org.ukThe Tools for Life
Jock’s LodgeEyre
PlaceGillespie CrescentBross boss,
Larah Bross