Culinaire Kitchens on Roman Way

MORE than 200 residents have signed a petition which aims to block “dark kitchens” in the borough, as planners get ready to reach a verdict on a new facility near Caledonian Road.

Culinaire Kitchens has asked the council for ­retrospective planning approval for their site on the Roman Way industrial estate. The application comes just six months after takeaway app giant Deliveroo applied to convert the unit next door into permanent cooking facilities.

They have become known as “dark kitchens” because they have no shopfronts but allow multiple businesses to operate under the same roof. They are cheaper than renting a restaurant and only do deliveries.

But neighbours say they cause chaos and have been writing to the council to ask them to block the move on health and safety grounds.

John Farndon, whose bedroom window is a matter of metres from the kitchens, said: “My lung health has deteriorated surprisingly and significantly in the months since the kitchen started operating. Of course, I can’t say they directly contributed, but it makes me very worried for the future when more kitchens are working here, since smoke particles from cooking are known to be very damaging to lung health.”

Meanwhile, others say that the “lawless” moped drivers who come to collect the deliveries pose safety risks for children, disabled people, and the elderly.

James Elfverson, who has been living on Offord Road for three years, told the Tribune: “You’ve got bikes just shooting around. We take our toddler down there and you have to keep an eye out for mopeds. It’s super lawless. There’s this complete chaos.”

Locals also argue that the current application contravenes the original by-laws of the estate, which prohibited use of the premises overnight, on Sundays, and on bank holidays.

Hossam Leila, a chef at Mama Bou

In their planning application, Culinaire Kitchens have made the case that the “dark kitchen” will employ 47 full-time staff, offering more job opportunities for Islington residents.

Of the 11 units, more than half are currently occupied. The Tribune went to speak to chefs and owners who are currently there, but they were sceptical that the unit could accommodate more than 40 people.

Hossam Leila, a chef at Mama Bou which has been operating from the unit, said that business has been slow since they started working out of there 8 months ago.

He said: “If we’re lucky, we maybe get one order on Deliveroo or Uber Eats a day. We had to throw months of stock away. Now we prep and sell to restaurants, that’s the only way we can get by.”

Alex Guinid has been renting a unit for two months – at a cost of just over £1,600 a month – and uses it to prepare Filipino pork that he ships across the UK.

“I’m hoping to start doing Deliveroo soon. I’ve signed a two-year lease. It makes sense to run out of a dark kitchen because you don’t have to pay for all the extras, like pest control or fire safety. We’ll see how it goes.”

Cllr Martin Klute, Islington’s planning chief, said the precedent set by Deliveroo – which won an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate after the council tried to block their operation – would mean it would be near impossible for the council to oppose Culinaire Kitchens’ application.

He told the Tribune: “The principle of precedent is quite powerful in planning, especially if something has been to appeal. The inspectorate decision is like a legal judgement. If someone wants to do exactly the same thing next door, the council doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”

Cllr Klute added: “I just don’t see where the disturbance comes from. If they operate outside the hours, enforcement will clamp down on them.

“Planning isn’t a popular vote, the planning decisions are meant to be taken on the basis of policy. The reason why we refused it [the Deliveroo one] originally was that we were trying to defend light industry premises and thought it wasn’t. The Planning Inspectorate shot that to pieces.”

The Tribune called the phone number on Culinaire Kitchens’ website twice and were instructed to contact them via an email address.

We put the concerns of locals to them, but by the time we went to print they had not responded to our request for comment.