Planners give Starbucks’ drive-thru go-ahead near Chesterfield heritage site
The coffee shop will go near the Grade II listed former Walton Works
Derbyshire planners have controversially given the go-ahead for a new drive-through Starbucks ‘restaurant’ in a conservation area and near to a heritage site in Chesterfield with certain conditions including reduced morning operational hours.
Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning committee approved Peppermint Grove Ltd’s planning application at a meeting on March 9 for the demolition of buildings and the retention of the Tap House pub for a new ‘drive-through restaurant’ with commercial units on land at Chatsworth Road and Mill Lane, near to the historic former Walton Works site.
Council officers had recommended the scheme which lies within the Chatsworth Road Conservation Area and forms part of the setting for the nearby Grade II listed former Walton Works be refused due to the potential harm to heritage assets and the loss of a potential housing site.
But Cllr Stuart Brittain told the meeting: “We have got to bear in mind this is a site that has been derelict for possibly about 30 years and this is the only application that has come in.
“I do take the point about the early hours. I would suggest it starts at 7am but the evening hours remain the same and I would like to propose that as an amendment.”
Councillors voted by a majority in favour of approving the scheme for the restoration and redevelopment of the derelict site with conditions and an amendment to change the restaurant’s operational hours, including deliveries, from between 6am to 10pm, for Mondays to Saturdays, to between 7am and 10pm, while planned operational hours for Sundays will remain as requested from 7am to 8pm.
The planning application had been recommended for refusal by the council’s planning officers after they stated that the scheme does not include any additional residential development other than one single residential unit and it would mean the loss of a potential housing site contrary to the council’s overall Local Plan for the borough and the National Planning Policy Framework.
Historic England also argued the scheme fails to address the importance of the nearby Grade II listed Walton Works across the river due to plans to demolish elements which it feels contribute to the setting of this historic site and to the character of the conservation area.
An Historic England spokesperson said: “We understand the need to see some movement on this site and bring it back into use, but the proposed drive-through scheme will erode the character of the area and harm the significance of the Walton Works.
“Further opening the frontage for traffic circulation and introducing the drive-through as a floating island in the back-space to the site will unravel the historic relationship between the Chatsworth Road, the Hipper and the Walton Works site.”
The council’s Conservation Officer also raised concerns that the car-centric model of the ‘drive-through coffee shop’ disrupts the street scene and has a negative impact on the setting of Walton Works but they have welcomed changes the applicant aims to introduce.
The council officers also raised concerns about the planned demolition of a terraced building and its replacement with another building because they felt this would result in the loss of one of the last enclosing buildings to the Walton Works site with harm to the conservation area and to the setting of the listed building.
But agent Charlotte Stainton, of Stainton Planning, representing the applicants, highlighted the benefits of the scheme including developing and enhancing a derelict site, the demolition of an unsightly and potentially dangerous arson damaged building while addressing anti-social behaviour issues, along with the felling of diseased and dying trees, new landscaping and creating 60 jobs while providing ‘a stop-off’ for people visiting the Peak District.
The council has received 61 letters in support of the scheme but it also received four letters of objection with concerns about the impact on traders and property prices, parking, highway safety including for pedestrians and the location of the entrance at the corner of Mill Lane and Chatsworth Road, flood fears, light pollution and the loss of trees.
But the developers have proposed to create a new access point onto Chatsworth Road to the west of the site with a separate pedestrian access also now proposed to the east of the retained pub The Tap House.
Derbyshire County Council’s highways authority has raised no objections to the scheme and confirmed the proposed site access is considered suitable to accommodate vehicle movements without having an unacceptable impact on highway safety.
It also confirmed the internal layout provides suitable stacking space within the site for customers as well as sufficient space for delivery vehicles to manoeuvre and internal parking and manoeuvring space for customers.
Regarding concerns from one resident who lives near the site, Ms Stainton said: “As you know Chatsworth Road is a busy road but the highways authority has said they are satisfied and it meets all the highways requirements. I have no reason to think it will have any more impact on their amenities.”
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and the Coal Authority have also raised no objections to the scheme subject to conditions.
Yorkshire Water objected to the scheme due to the proximity of proposed, new tree planting to a Yorkshire Water disposal main, but the applicant has since submitted a revised layout that is in line with the council’s Local Plan policies concerning drainage.
However, council officers still argued the application should be refused because the site sits in an allocated potential housing site and it is contrary to the council’s overall Local Plan and the NPPF.
They also argued the scheme will not preserve or enhance the character or the appearance of the Chatsworth Road Conservation Area and it will not preserve the setting of the listed Walton Works and that it will result in harm to these heritage assets.
But the committee previously rejected the council officers’ recommendations at a meeting on January 26 and the matter was deferred until the latest meeting where the committee voted by a majority to approve the scheme with conditions and an amendment to the operational hours for the drive-through restaurant with a 7am start between Mondays and Saturdays instead of the proposed 6am start.
Councillors Keith Miles, Glenys Falconer and Jacqueline Ridgway all raised concerns about the potential impact of noise on the neighbourhood with the originally proposed operational starting time of 6am between Mondays and Saturdays.
Other conditions which the applicant will need to meet include a site investigation due to past coal mining activity, a construction management plan, a habitat management and monitoring plan, a biodiversity enhancement plan, restricted construction times, an assessment of the speaker system and an external lighting strategy to safeguard bats and nocturnal wildlife.