30 jobs at new £1.5m Starbucks drive-through in Kelso – if appeal agreed
Starbucks has revealed that up to 30 staff will be employed at a proposed new £1.5m drive-through cafe in Kelso – if a planning appeal is successful next week.
The US coffee chain giant wants to develop a derelict site north east of Oakwood in Station Road.
But the council’s planning department refused a planning application earlier this year after concluding the drive-through would be “incongruous” to the area and could harm the “vitality and viability” of the town centre.
The proposals also divided opinion in the Borders town which already has a large number of independent coffee shops.
Now the company is to appeal the decision to members of Scottish Borders Council’s Local Review Body when they meet on Monday, September 15.
The appeal statement says: “The proposal is to redevelop part of a brownfield site that has been vacant for a prolonged period, understood to be in excess of 20 years, and the development will therefore bring a dormant and unused site into beneficial use, and with a contemporary building that will improve the appearance of the site and the surrounding area and establish a benchmark to act as a catalyst to help enable the future development of the remaining part of the site.
“The proposed development will serve a different function and role to coffee shops in other locations in Kelso, and consequently will not have a direct, significant or adverse impact on other equivalent facilities.”
The appeal statement says the council’s Roads Department did not object to the application and agreed that the predominant visits to the proposed facility would be from nearby residential and employment areas.
“A significant majority of the visits would either be on foot or through already established road users choosing to visit the coffee shop as part of an existing trip”, the statement says.
If approved the drive-through would be Starbucks second in the Borders, with the company opening an outlet on the site of the old Abbotsford Arms Hotel in Galashiels, near the town’s Transport Interchange, in December 2022.
In his report refusing the application, Euan Calvert, SBC assistant planning officer, noted that the council’s landscape architect objected to the bid, stating it would be “detrimental to the character, attractiveness and amenity of the surrounding area” and “an incongruous addition to the residential streetscape”.
Refusal came despite enthusiastic support from Kelso councillor Tom Weatherston, who said: “This site has sat derelict for well over 20 years and has become badly overgrown and lets the area down, it’s good news for Kelso that the site has been purchased.
“This type of drive through facility is a different offer to town centre cafes and I am confident this proposal would not have a big impact on the town centre businesses, and would be more attractive to people driving through the area. It will be very good to see this part of Kelso tidied up after many years.”
The company has confirmed the intention to employ between 20 to 30 staff at the proposed new venue, more than half being full time posts.