Aerial photos show Telford's newest drive-through Starbuck's coffee shop beginning to take shape
Four years after plans were revealed, work is well under way to build a new drive-through coffee shop at a retail park in Telford.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Back in 2021, the owners of American Golf, a 565-square-metre store on Wrekin Retail Park, applied to “downsize” the sports shop and set up a Starbucks branch.
The proposals included cladding one half of the building, installing a new shopfront and creating a drive-through window with small extension.
The plans sparked some concern from members of Wellington Town Council’s Planning Committee, who worried another drive-through would see traffic increase on the already busy road through the retail park.
That fear was shared by Hadley and Leegomery Councillor Stuart Parr, who said the retail park "already experiences an unsustainable volume of traffic".
He added: "Starbucks is incredibly popular and this would be the only one in the Wellington area. The additional traffic it would generate would make the queues that already cause significant disruption to the surrounding area worse."
But in January 2022, Telford & Wrekin Council planning officers gave the green light to the plans, stating that whilst it was noted there were already "a number of fast-food driveways and coffee shops already located on this retail park" they did not consider it a "proliferation".
In regards to traffic, the local highways authority determined it would be unlikely that any drivers would make a dedicated or diverted trip to the coffee shop during peak times.
The report continued: "Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that at these peak periods, the facility will be predominantly visited by the public who are already within the retail park, for other purposes, and therefore no demonstrable material exacerbation of the extant traffic issues could be made."
The decision report also notes that the highways team "offered the applicant an opportunity to discuss alternative access solutions with the retail park operator" - as they felt 'in only' access off the A5223 northbound could provide helpful direct access to Starbucks and Tesco.
"Such a solution may provide significant commercial benefit to these retailers, as well as relieve some of the extant traffic issues into the retail park at peak times," the report continued.
While they determined the creation of a new access "would be advantageous" - planning officers could not insist that it be created as part of the application.
Work on the new unit began after Christmas this year. Photographs, taken on Monday, reveal the coffee shop is well and truly taking shape.
