Dunfermline: Work to create unauthorised hookah lounge had already started

PLANS to open a shisha bar in Abbeyview could disappear in a puff of smoke as the applicant "wasn't aware he required permission".

Mr M Arslan, of Glenrothes, had already started converting premises at 22 Duncan Crescent and has now asked Fife Council for retrospective approval of the new venture.

If the change of use application is approved, the shisha bar or den, also known as a hookah smoking lounge, would be around 45 square metres in size.

The proposed site, which would have indoor and outdoor seating areas as well as a serving area and toilets, is a store or garage area behind a row of shops and flats on Duncan Crescent.

Shisha bars are normally found in large cities throughout the UK and allow patrons to share and smoke shisha – flavoured or fruit tobacco made from molasses – from a communal hookah or from one placed at each table.

Wood, coal or charcoal is burned in the shisha pipe to heat the tobacco and create the smoke, and flexible tubes are hooked up to the pipe. The smoke is passed through a water basin – often glass-based – before inhalation.

The application is still to be determined but Brian Hill, an environmental health officer with the council, said: "I have taken a site visit to view the structure as it has already been built and note that there are residential properties nearby.

"There is also a range of commercial premises with associated fixed plant such as refrigeration, extraction and ventilation units.

"I have not received a consultation request for a business of this nature before so I am unsure of the potential amenity impacts.

"Potential impacts may be from odour or from noise from patrons or any sound-producing equipment.

"However, given the location and scale of the development I would think that it would be unlikely to significantly affect amenity.

"I do recommend that the applicant submits what hours of operation the facility is intended to be used."

Shisha smoking produces second-hand smoke so is covered by Scotland's smoke-free law which doesn't allow smoking in enclosed public spaces. It is permitted in courtyard areas.

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