New Starbucks drive-thru set for Northampton

The planning application has been submitted by Morrisons for land around its Kettering Road store, near the petrol station.

If approved by councillors, the coffee shop would create 30 jobs and sit alongside the McDonald's drive thru that has already been given the go-ahead.

Town planners England Lyle Good, who are paid by Morrisons, have submitted reasons why the Starbucks is a good idea: "The proposals will facilitate the redevelopment of an underutilised area of the existing Morrisons car park.

"The proposals will provide enhanced local facilities for local residents, shoppers and motorists on Kettering Road.

"The economic benefits associated with the proposals should be afforded significant weight in the assessment of the proposals."

The new drive-thru would see Morrisons shoppers lose 36 parking spaces, although 14 more would be provided at Starbucks.

A traffic assessment paid for by Morrrisons concludes that Starbucks customers will not add significantly to congestion on Kettering Road. This mainly because it claims many Starbucks customers will be supermarket shoppers already using the site.

The application says: "It has been demonstrated that only 6 two-way trips during the Friday evening peak hour and 19 trips during the Saturday peak hour will be new to the network.

"This equates to one vehicle every 10 minutes on Friday and one vehicle every three minutes on Saturday, which will not have a material impact on the operation of the local highway network."