A WOMAN who was forced to close her café after neighbours complained about the smell of bacon is now reopening just 100m away.
Emma Ayles hopes that repositioning her cafe, which is in a converted shipping container, will take it out of earshot and the nostrils of the complainants.
BNPSEmma Ayles aims to reopen The Caddy Shack just 100m in a bid to stop complaints from the neighbours[/caption]
BNPSThe cafe owner is hopeful the local council will approve her plans[/caption]
The Caddy Shack cafe had been a popular addition to a rugby club car park in Weymouth, Dorset, since it opened in April 2022.
Then three local residents voiced their opposition to Emma’s application to make it a permanent fixture, citing problems with “noise and odour”.
Objectors claimed the “smell of bacon” and “hearing teaspoons and teacups” was ruining their standard of living.
Officials ordered Emma, 47, to shut the cafe last December, due to the “unacceptable harm” it caused to the neighbours.
The married mum-of-two has now submitted a new planning application for the cafe which will see it moved to the other side of the car park.
Emma said: “Before it was 24 metres away from the neighbours but now it will be nearly to 100 metres, so they shouldn’t be able to smell bacon or hear teacups clinking.”
She already has the backing of Weymouth Town Council who voted to support her plans but they must now be approved by Dorset Council.
Emma said she hoped “common sense would prevail” and officials will approve the new location and support a local business.
She has also started a Change.Org petition to save The Caddy Shack which has received more than 4,000 signatures in a month.
She said: “It’s been really heart-warming and lovely to see the support (from the petition).
“The plan is to put the shack completely on the other side of the car park.
“I am hopeful that this time the council will be on my side as two of the three complaints said they wanted the shack moved to the other side of the car park.
“That’s what we are proposing and it was only the ringleader who was against the whole thing.
“I am hopeful that they will approve it but I’ve learnt from my experience so far that anything can happen.”
After closing the cafe in December, resulting in eight people being made redundant, Emma described the stress she had endured over the petty row.
She said: “It’s been a constant battle, and so stressful.
“The whole thing is so ridiculous that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“To complain about the smell of bacon is ridiculous. And 90 per cent of the time the wind blows the other way from that house.
“What do they want us to do, use chocolate teacups so there is no sound?
“The council should be supporting small businesses yet they have given in to the ridiculous complaints of three residents.”
In backing Emma’s plans, councillor Tim Young said: “I would like to support it. It was a very popular resource, it would be a shame if it didn’t come back.
“They have moved it back a bit, that would seem to solve the problem.”
BNPSThe cafe has been a popular attraction since it opened in April 2022[/caption]
BNPSEmma was forced to close in December last year, making eight people redundant[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
