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.
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.
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 Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and the Coal Authority have raised no objections to the scheme subject to conditions.
By Jon Cooper,
Local Democracy Reporter
