Brewing upnew drive-thru

A new drive-thru Starbucks coffee shop is set to be built at a site in Coatbridge town centre.

The development – described in planning documents as being specifically for the named coffee chain – will be constructed in the car park of an existing gym building at Coatbank Street.

North Lanarkshire councillors gave the goahead for the development at their meeting last we, imposing a condition that the daily operating hours of the business are between 6am and 10pm.

The successful application was made by LJR Properties (Coatbridge), to develop the drive-through coffee shop and reconfigure the existing 171-space car park serving the site most recently used by DW Sports Fitness.

A report by planning officials for committee members stated: “The proposed development is for a Starbucks coffee shop with a drive-through facility; this would be a flat-roofed singlestorey unit with a modern design.

“There would be a net loss of parking within the site, reducing to 138 spaces of which 42 would be for the Starbucks and 96 would serve the gym and part-retail building.”

A spokesman for the coffee chain said ahead of the committee meeting: “We are always looking for new locations and opportunities to bring the Starbucks experience to customers in the UK, but at this time we have no news to share about specific plans in Coatbridge.”

However, the company’s name and logo appear on the plans submitted to North Lanarkshire Council and in the authority’s committee papers, and a design statement forming part of the approved application includes various named references and branded images of how the new building would look.

The new building would be constructed in the south-west corner of the site, closest to the junction of Coatbank Way and Coatbank Street beside its existing vehicle entrance, and would have four electric vehicle charging points.