Edinburgh planning: car park off Gorgie Road to become ghost kitchen site

There are plans for an Edinburgh car park to be turned into a site for ghost kitchens.

With the growth of apps like Deliveroo and DoorDash, kitchens which cook food solely for delivery have exploded in several parts of the world.

And the trend could find a new base in the Capital if the city council backs the latest proposals for Stenhouse Mill Wynd near Gorgie Road.

Documents sent to the local authority outline developer Tony Pia’s vision of the site’s ‘containerised shipping units’ converted into kitchens.

According to a planning statement, it would be a ‘predominantly wholesale operation’ but also contain a large aspect of direct delivery sales, capitalising on the concentration of students in the surrounding area.

The statement continues: “With the rise of urbanization and an increasingly busy lifestyle, the demand for food delivery services has surged, resulting in a shift from traditional dining experiences to ordering food online.

“Virtual restaurants gained significant notice during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when many restaurants were either completely idled due to restrictions on public dining, or curtailed significantly as very low numbers of patrons were permitted to be served on-premises even as the situation recovered.

“The trend has continued post pandemic. There are good green planning qualities in that it reduces the amount of customer car travelling, as the food is delivered by the business and this can be by bikes, e-bikes and other electric vehicles.”

The site has been the subject of several plans for its future in recent years. In 2019, permission for a development encompassing student accommodation and shops was granted.

That followed a previous application for student flats that was refused in 2015. None of the projects have ever got off the ground.