Plans for a 5th Costa Coffee outlet for town
NEW DRIVE-THRU COFFEE SHOP WOULD BE BUILT ON THE CAR PARK OPPOSITE CURRYS PC WORLD AND DREAMS
BURTON is set to get its fifth Costa Coffee shop after the scheme was delayed four years ago due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’, new plans have revealed.
The coffee giant originally laid out plans for a new outlet for the car park serving Centrum East retail park, in Wellington Road, in 2016.
However, despite it being approved the following year, the venue was never built and the planning application ran out.
The firm has now resubmitted its original plans to East Staffordshire Borough Council after the three-year timeframe in which to build the shop ran out.
Explaining the delay, the firm has blamed, “unforeseen circumstances” but would not say more, but said it is now, “in a position to fully implement planning permission”.
The firm has been contacted for further details on the circumstances. If approved again, the car park will see its spaces reduced from 311 to 262 to make way for the new drinks business.
A marketing report submitted with the application has also revealed the locations which had already been explored before Centrum East was chosen.
These included St Peter’s retail park where no units were available; Burton Rugby Club’s Burton Shopping Park, construction of which has not yet started; the Octagon shopping centre car park, which was not suitable as the centre already has a Costa Coffee; and the former Toys R Us, in Underhill Walk, which is now Next, but the unit could not accommodate a drive thru.
The coffee giant also looked at Bargates and the former county court, in Station Street but its Grade II listing made any alterations difficult, the firm said.
This will be the fifth Costa Coffee, following on from the unit next to Coopers Square shopping centre; a second site in The Octagon shopping centre; a drive-thru off
Derby Road, and a Costa Coffee inside Tesco, on St Peter’s Bridge. However, it will be the first in the town built on an existing car park.
The supporting transport statement submitted to the council, originally prepared by Caneparo Associates, said that the car park does not operate anywhere near capacity at peak times.
A parking survey included as part of the plan said that the vehicle occupancy levels at the car park reached 125 parked vehicles on Friday afternoon and 165 parked vehicles on Saturday afternoon.
The statement also said the proposed Costa Coffee would result in another five vehicles on week days and around 10 vehicles at the weekend.
It is intended that the ‘ drivethru’ concept would provide a food and drink facility to the main nearby retail units at Centrum East which includes Currys PC World, Dreams, Carpetright, and Bannatyne’s Health Club and Spa.
The plans are set to be decided in the next few months.