Retail park planned for Derby scrubland plot
A fast food chain and a coffee shop drive-thru could be heading for the east of Derby, along with retail units, under plans submitted to the city council this week.
Yorkshire-based applicant Jack Lunn Properties has applied for permission to build two drive-thru restaurants and a trio of commercial units on a two-and-a-half-acre plot of “unmanaged scrubland” off Belmore Way in Alveston, near an existing Lidl store.
If approved, the scheme would create 15,000 sq ft of new commercial space, with two occupiers already recruited for the drive-thru restaurants proposed for the development.
The proposed drive-thru units will by occupied by an international fast-food operator and the other a coffee shop chain, believed to be Costa Coffee.
The site, which was formerly owned by Derby City Council before being snapped up by the applicant, sits within an area allocated for employment development in the city’s now outdated core local plan.
Documents submitted with the application stated that the proposals would have no impact on nearby district centres at Alveston and Allenton, described as “busy” and “generally healthy” as part of a sequential test carried out for the proposals.
While the test flagged up a potential conflict with a Starbucks drive-thru in Allenton, the applicant said the proposed retail park outlet would serve “a specific and localised” market, and would not materially affect the local centre operation.
“Whilst the Starbucks drive-thru in the district centre is a similar use to that proposed at the application site, the very nature of this element of the proposal is such that it will serve a specific and localised catchment, predominantly that of pass by trade,” said a planning statement submitted with the scheme.
“It will serve a convenience function for passing motorists, as well as for residents, customers, and staff using nearby commercial outlets, making impulse purchases whilst passing by.”
The Harris Partnership provided designs for the scheme, with planning services provided by Peacock and Smith. The project team includes Smeeden Foreman, Dragonfly Consulting, Orbis, AMA, and Arc Environmental.
Plans and documents relating to the application can be found on Derby’s planning portal using reference: 26/01035/FUL
