| The 24-hour bakery on Annfield Row has submitted a planning application to Dundee City Council — the second this year — to expand its hot-food takeaway area.
And while local residents have objected to the application, worried about the noise produced by late-night revellers, Clark’s Bakery has defended the move, claiming they provide an invaluable service to many of Dundee’s hungry citizens.
“The reason we applied for an extension was to get more of the people inside, which should help reduce some of the noise,” said the bakery’s Jonathon Clark.
“The old queue only held 20 people, but we can now hold around 40 people and the queue doesn’t go out the door. It can get a bit noisy, but we are feeding drunk people and helping them to dilute the alcohol.
“We are probably even saving lives because, by serving hot food for 24 hours, we are stopping people from going home drunk and using chip fryers or ovens and then forgetting to turn them off before they fall asleep.
However, residents have posted anonymous notes around the neighbourhood urging locals to lodge objections with the council’s Planning and Transportation Department because they fear any extension will exacerbate what they see as existing problems.
“I don’t think this facility needs extended as it is already causing enough problems with noise, litter, and pollution. A facility of this type should not be in a heavily built-up area, and an extension to the premises would bring nothing but misery to the local residents,” said one disgruntled resident.
“People are shouting and bawling at all hours. The facility, in its present form, already causes a great deal of stress to residents.”
The bakery submitted an application to extend its premises on March 30. However, approval for the extension was withdrawn after the planning conditions were breached. A new application went in on August 13. It is expected to go to committee next month.
This has angered residents who feel the bakery has flouted the rules in order to fast- track the expansion.
“They did some alterations and are now trying to get retrospective planning consent for it. They’ve failed to go through the proper channels,” said an angry resident.
Mr Clark said the bakery had spent over £10,000 in recent years cleaning up the industrial estate, had put in eight new bins and was proactive in removing any graffiti.
He said, “We’ve been in the same spot for eight years, which is classed as an industrial estate, and are about 500 metres from the university campus. We’ve tried to be as considerate to the local residents as we can.”
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