Monday June 8th 2026
Richard and Amy Harris outside Dolly's Tea Room.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
A dad-of-two has thanked his local community after their support helped persuade councillors to back his plans for a village takeaway despite opposition.
Midlothian businessman Richard Harris and his family have served the village of Roslin for decades running a local hotel, tea room and guest house.
However he was left stunned when his plan to turn an empty shop next to his family business into a takeaway to help boost his business sparked opposition from a neighbour and council officers recommended it for refusal.
At a meeting of Midlothian planning committee this afternoon, the application was called in by local ward councillors Kelly Parry and Pauline Winchester who told the meeting they had been inundated with message of support for the new service in Roslin.
Council leader Councillor Parry said: “One of the objections were that there is no need for a hot food takeaway in Roslin, my email inbox tells a completely different story.”
Councillor Winchester added: “We have all had a lot of emails showing how much support there is for this local business in Roslin.”
The committee heard that planning officers believed the takeaway should be refused planning permission and listed building consent because it would have an unacceptable impact on the amenity of neighbours.
The application was hit by controversy last month when the office of Miles Briggs, Conservative MSP, wrote to the council’s chief executive to raise an objection to the plans although Mr Briggs later insisted there had been an administration error and his office had only meant to request more information.
Mr Harris said he was delighted councillors had listened to the community and allowed ‘due process’ to take place.
Richard and his wife Amy, who is an NHS practitioner nurse, moved into what was the old Royal Hotel, in Roslin in 2013 when it was lying derelict. His family has run the Original Rosslyn Inn across the road for more than 50 years.
The couple have transformed the building into a popular tea room and guest house but, he said, the current financial market meant they needed to look at additional revenue and the empty shop unit beside the property presented a solution as a takeaway.
Speaking after councillors approved his plans, Richard said: “I am absolutely delighted and have been celebrating with our staff.
“Myself and my family have served this community for many years and have a lot of support and the way to community have got behind our plans has been amazing.
“We cannot wait to get up and running and repay their faith in us. It has really shown us how due process can work when there is support and we want to thank everyone who has helped us get to this point.”
Tweet Share on Facebook
