Plans for drive-thru Starbucks plan near Beverley rejected by inspector

Developers A&S Homes Ltd appealed after East Riding Council rejected proposals for the coffee shop and electric charging facilities in December 2023 in a field next to Cherry Lane Garden Centre on Hull Bridge Road, Tickton.

The council said the plans, which proposed a “generous drive thru lane for eight queuing cars” and 19 other parking spaces would lead to a “manifestly commercial” development in a highly prominent location.

Starbucks already has a shop a mile away in Beverley while the garden centre has its own café which opens seven days a week.

The parish council objected as did dozens of residents living in Tickton.

Planning inspector S Dean said he accepted there was a need for electric vehicle charging but 75 per cent was done at home and there was “little evidence” demonstrating a need for one in this location. Nor was he convinced that most trips to the site would be people stopping as they drove by.

Unlike other similar facilities it wasn’t near a junction and “would appear somewhat incongruous in a largely rural, minor settlement, particularly on the more open and rural side of the road”.

Not was he convinced that most trips to the site would be people stopping as they drove by.

He said: “I find that as the appeal site lies within the countryside, despite the presence of other development nearby, it would have a harmful effect on the character of the area.”

Starbucks had a total of 1,266 stores in the UK in 2023