No to Starbucks, Burger King plan

AN application seeking permission to build a drivethru Starbucks and Burger King near Dundee Airport has been refused.

London-based firm GVD had hoped to build the facilities and 54 parking spaces at the bottom of Riverside Avenue.

But Dundee City Council refused the application because the proposed site, at the roundabout near to the airport, falls into the council’s Dundee Local Development Plan (DLDP) area.

Calum Morris, planning manager for GVD, said: “We will be appealing on the basis that it would have brought 60 jobs to the city, which in the current climate, we believe would have been beneficial to Dundee.

“Burger King and Starbucks are desperate to get on the site and I’m from Dundee myself so know the site like the back of my hand and I know that it would be well used – we’ve had a lot of interest from residents of Dundee.”

Gregor Hamilton, the council’s head of planning, said the design of the proposed site was “poor quality” and did not incorporate a creative approach to urban design, as required within the DLDP.

He said fast food restaurants fall short of the economic policy in the

DLDP which only supports facilities in Class 4 and above – these proposed units fall into Class 3.

And he said that GVD had failed to demonstrate there were no other more suitable sites within or on the edge of the city, as required in policy 21 of the DLDP.

Mr Hamilton also said the application fell short of policy 54 of the DLDP in that there were no links to public transport within 400 metres of the site and therefore the proposal would not minimise the need to travel by private car.

The site has been empty for a number of years. It was previously granted planning permission in 2006 for a 60-bed hotel with a restaurant and car park but building work did not commence.

The site near Dundee Airport where it was hoped to build a Burger King and Starbucks.