Mimi’s Bakehouse Corstorphine needs your support

Over the summer we have been working towards opening Mimi’s Bakehouse in Corstorphine at 277 St Johns Road Edinburgh. Since opening the original Mimi’s Bakehouse - Leith in 2010 we have been utterly overwhelmed by the love shown by the local community and beyond.

So when we were offered the opportunity to be a part of the community of Corstorphine we absolutely jumped at the chance. As a family business with family ties to the area we cannot think of a better place to be.

What Mimi’s Bakehouse - Corstorphine will offer

We plan to create a cafe space which is recognisably ‘Mimi’s’ with a food, drink and of course cake offering, similar to our Bakehouse in Leith. We think this space will become a centre point for the local community where people can pop in for a morning coffee and cake, an indulgent breakfast, lavish lunch or our popular afternoon tea.

We also believe that Mimi’s Bakehouse - Corstorphine will bring more people to St John's Road to use it as it should be used; a destination high street.

Amongst our other plans are a retail space to sell our baking accessories as well as our delicious cakes, cheesecakes, traybakes and more to takeaway. Clearing the badly overgrown garden is high on our list of priorities and we plan to create a fruit garden with a selection of fruits, berries and herbs which would be used in our baking and can be enjoyed by you – our customers.

Our business currently provides over 40 jobs for people all ages in many different roles and our new branch would create 20 jobs for people from the local community.

We strongly believe we can make a positive impact on St John's Road and the wider community. We were delighted to be awarded title of “The Best Craft Bakery In Scotland” by The Scottish Bakers Association and “The Best Casual Dining Experience in Scotland” by Visit Scotland earlier this year and we believe Mimi’s Bakehouse – Corstorphine will become a similar success and will become an intrinsic part of St John's Road.

The Planning Department are recommending refusal of our application due to the loss of a retail unit as they don't consider Mimi's to be a retail unit.

In order to open, we require planning permission from Edinburgh City Council and the decision to approve or refuse our application will be made by committee on the 23rd of September 2015. Unfortunately the Edinburgh City Council has recommended that the committee refuse our application on the basis that they don't feel Mimi's does not have enough of a retail offering.

We understand that High Streets should predominantly be retail destinations however they should also be areas where other businesses can operate when they complement the main retail offering of the street. St John's Road is not an area that is over saturated with cafes and restaurants and we believe Mimi’s Bakehouse with its mixed offering of cafe space and retail space will complement both the local businesses and provide a service to local shoppers and residents.

However despite this the council has recommended our application for refusal. At present this means when our case is heard by committee it will be refused and Mimi’s Bakehouse Corstorphine will not open.

On the contrary to the council’s recommendation we have received nothing but positive feedback and support from everyone we have spoken to in the local community and we hope to bring this to the committee’s attention.

How can you help?

If you would like to see Mimi’s Bakehouse in Corstorphine open its doors we are asking you to be kind enough to support us in two ways.

Firstly please sign our petition registering your support – it only takes 2 minutes and every signature helps!

Sharing on social media and telling your friends/family will also help spread the word.

Secondly if you live in the Corstorphine and Murrayfield ward please contact your local Councillors Jeremy Balfour, Frank Ross and Paul Eddie with a brief letter/email of support for our application.

The ward map for Corstorhpine and Murrayfield ward can be viewed here

Councillor Jeremy Balfour

The City of Edinburgh Council
City Chambers
High Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1YJ

Telephone: 0131 529 4083

Email:jeremy.balfour@edinburgh.gov.uk

Councillor Frank Ross

The City of Edinburgh Council
City Chambers
High Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1YJ

Telephone: 0131 529 4987

Email: frank.ross@edinburgh.gov.uk

Councillor Paul Edie

The City of Edinburgh Council
City Chambers
High Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1YJ

Telephone: 0131 529 3712

Email: paul.edie@edinburgh.gov.uk

What you need to state in your letter of support

• Your Full Name
• Your Address
• A statement of support briefly describing why you support Mimi’s application to open in Corstorphine and why you think a planning application would be a bad decision

If we can gather enough support and show the council that the people who live in and around the area would like to see Mimi’s Bakehouse open in Corstorphine then we can change their minds.

If you have any questions or would like any more information on our application or how you can help then don’t hesitate to drop us an email to scott@mimisbakehouse.com