Starbucks is coming to Banbridge and it’s official.
For plans for a new drive-thru have now been given the go-ahead.
The proposals – for a site at the Boulevard – were submitted to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council in June.
And now the newest outlet by the world-famous franchise has been served up with an approval notice.
As Armagh I revealed at the time, the new drive-thru will be built on a ‘gateway’ site at the Boulevard, next to the A1 dual carriageway and close to the Go filling station and KFC.
The drive-thru will have a single free-standing order terminal – with a canopy over the drive-thru window – and the proposals also incorporate landscaping, lighting, bin stores and other associated siteworks.
Related: Fuel your day and your car with Go Coffee in Banbridge
There will be a 15 car queuing lane as well as a total of 12 parking spaces too.
The new development will boast floorspace in excess of 2,250 sq ft and will see an average of six staff on site daily.
The applicant is Raspet Ltd, which has an address at the Connswater Shopping Centre in Belfast. It had said the development would “provide a complementary offering” to the existing KFC drive-thru and Go units.
ABC planning officials have been looking at the application over these past few months and received no objections, from either the public or statutory agencies.
In terms of the location, they state: “Although the site occupies an elevated position it will be viewed in the context of the large retail complex of the Boulevard – adjacent and east of the site – and the KFC restaurant and GO petrol filling station adjacent and north of the site.”
And they add: “The overall scheme will benefit from detailed landscaping proposals and new planting to ensure
the proposed development visually integrates into the surrounding context.”
Neither do they feel its position will “prejudice road safety or significantly inconvenience the flow of traffic”.
A number of conditions have been laid down including one which limits hours of business to between 7am and 11pm, including for deliveries and loading and unloading.
And prior to that, the actual construction work has been limited to taking place between 7.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, and 7.30am and 1pm, on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or bank or public holidays.
The signed approval papers giving the go-ahead are now being issued to the applicant, meaning it’s full steam ahead for the borough latest coffee house!
