War of words breaks out over council plans to close speakeasy
BY ALAN McEWEN alan.mcewen@reachplc.com
A ROW has erupted over a “speakeasy” bar after the owner’s mental health battles were raised by an opponent seeking its closure.
Ross Hardie launched The Cat’s Pyjamas cocktail bar out of a converted office on a quiet street. Its exterior masquerades as an ordinary house in the style of 1920s Prohibitionera drinking dens.
But the 42-year-old has been ordered to shut down the premises in Belhaven, Dunbar, East Lothian.
East Lothian Council refused Hardie’s retrospective application for a change of use for the building. This week, he slammed council bosses and local community councillor Jacqueline Bell, claiming there was a “vendetta” against him.
Ross insisted she submitted an objection to the project which showed “discriminatory views toward my mental health issues”.
Last night, Bell told the Record: “The objection was on a standard form and I noted a concern that I felt he needed support. The objection was mainly about the building. I was worried about the man’s welfare.”
Hardie wanted to create the “coolest bar in East Lothian” with seating for 50 patrons, and The Cat’s Pyjamas started trading before the pandemic.
Its planning bid attracted 11 objections. Council chiefs cited a lack of parking as the reason for denying the application.
In an earlier Facebook post, Hardie told how he was “hugely disappointed by this decision” by the council, which seemed “ridiculous”. Later, he returned to social media to attack Bell for her objection.
He told about finding the strength to open up on his “depression and chronic anxiety” struggles but said he did not do it “for people like Ms Bell to use it as a reason to achieve her end game or to discriminate against me in writing to the local authority”.
Hardie claimed she was “showing her prejudice against me and against mental health”, and it was “an act of bullying”.
He called for Bell to stand down from Dunbar community council.
But Bell, 62, said: “The gentleman is not happy he’s been refused planning permission. He wants to blame other people and I’m the one who’s getting it, which is very upsetting.”
Hardie, who can appeal the council’s decision, declined to comment when contacted by the Record.