INVERCLYDE is set to get its first Starbucks, as part of a development that also features a new office building.
Inverclyde Planning Board today unanimously approved the proposal for a site beside the at Cartsdyke Avenue, Greenock. Planning officials had recommended that the go-ahead be given.
The drive-thru will be open 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. It has not been stated whether there is an occupier lined up for the offices.
Councillor Innes Nelson said: “This is a good development in the right place with high potential to create jobs.”
A statement included with the application by developer LGO4 Ltd explained: “The [two-storey] office will accommodate approximately 100 staff, and that part of the development will represent an investment in Inverclyde in excess of approximately £3million.
“The [drive-thru] coffee shop will be occupied and operated by Starbucks and this will employ approximately 20 to 30 staff, with approximately 50 per cent to be full-time.
“The coffee shop development will represent an investment in Inverclyde in excess of approximately £1.7million by Starbucks.”
It continued: “The office development aligns with adjacent uses and the development of a coffee shop in this location will introduce an attractive modern facility that will support both existing and future businesses, as well as tourists and local residents, by providing a comfortable and accessible meeting space with wifi connections.”
A previous attempt to get permission for a drive-thru coffee shop at the site was rejected in 2018. Planners said then that the site is intended for only certain business and industrial uses and they were also concerned about the loss of high quality landscaping.
But officials supported the new application. Their report stated: “Despite being situated within the SEIL [Strategic Economic Investment Location], the drive-thru part of the development would have no adverse impact on the function or operation of either the wider SEIL or the adjacent business and industrial area.
“It will also remove a comparatively neglected, vacant site in a prominent location. Such a development would also bring employment, contribute positively to the local economy and support the recovery from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Drawing all of this together, there are material considerations to justify a departure from [policy] and the adopted and proposed Local Development Plans.
“Furthermore…there are no sequentially preferable sites for this use and it is accepted that the drive thru element requires an easily accessible position.
“The form and appearance of the development are considered appropriate and, having fully assessed the proposal, inclusive of implications for traffic, parking, flooding and drainage, the development is considered acceptable and to present no conflict with the relevant policies.”
