Big Manny’s Pizza has been given permission to continue selling takeaways from an Aberdeen pub – after a smell row with neighbours.
The local business has taken the north-east by storm since being formed during the pandemic.
What started as a way to keep staff at Holburn Street’s Adam Lounge in a job soon took on a life of its own.
They were selling scores of the monster-sized belly-busters a week by the time the kitchen was expanded in 2021.
Pizza firm on the rise
It now has branches near Pittodrie and at Codona’s, along with a space at an Inverurie chip shop.
And plans for a new Stonehaven pizzeria have been announced.
But for several months now, bosses have faced the threat of takeaway operations at the Aberdeen bar being shut down.
What is the Big Manny’s Pizza smell row about?
Last summer, management were made to submit a retrospective planning application for the endeavour started in October 2020.
While the bar is allowed to serve food, separate consent is needed for a takeaway.
Neighbours quickly wrote to the council kicking up a stink – citing problems with cooking smells wafting into their flats.
One said the “continuous” ventilation system blew “cooking smells and noise” to the rear of properties such as his.
He wrote: “I no longer open my rear windows because of the cooking smells and noise. This includes my bedroom window.”
Big Manny’s smell row: ‘More waste attracts more seagulls’
Meanwhile, the owners of the Howburn Residence serviced apartment block said the nine apartments, spread over three storeys, were “significantly affected”.
Their lawyers wrote: “This increased waste from the takeaway includes used oil bins and waste food, which is attracting seagulls and creating odours (especially in the summer heat).”
And the council found there wasn’t a suitable system in place.
What did Big Manny’s do?
In response, Big Manny’s brought in pong boffins to advise on the measures needed to reduce any smell and continue to run the takeaway.
In the ensuing months, the company filed odour and noise studies with the council outlining how the ventilation systems would be beefed up.
When it came to the waft, “several mitigations” were put forward “to control odour
and comply with relevant guidance”.
Local authority planning chiefs agreed they would have “no odour concerns” as long as these moves are implemented and pizza bosses come up with a plan to maintain the ventilation equipment.
Anti-noise measures suggested by the business were also deemed “appropriate”.
Big Manny’s declined to comment on the smell row when approached.
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