Leicestershire is to get two new drive-thrus

Two new drive-thrus are to be built in Leicestershire. They will be based at Airfield Business Park, in Leicester Road, Market Harborough, and will form part of the “third and final phase” of the expansion.

Leicestershire County Council, which submitted the plans in February, said the expansion was necessary because all the units built in phases one and two had been let. One of the drive-thrus will be a Costa cafe, plans have revealed.

Full planning permission has now been granted for this. It is not yet known what the second will be, as only the building permit has been granted, meaning it has been approved in principle, with all the details to be considered through a subsequent application.

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In addition to the food outlets, full permission has also been granted for three other buildings on the site. They will be for industrial use and boast 11 units between them, Leicestershire County Council said.

One of the commercial units has already been leased to Bramble Foods, a fine food manufacturer, the authority added. The company already leases a unit in the business park but is looking to expand.

Councilor Richard Allen praised the decision to include drive-thrus in the scheme at a meeting of the council’s Development Control and Regulatory Board. He said: “In terms of sustainability, (this) is probably better than on-site employees trying to go elsewhere for lunch or a proliferation of unregulated on-site outlets.”

Also included in the plans are 108 car parking spaces, 16 disabled parking spaces, 21 motorcycle spaces and 46 bicycle spaces. The council said when the plan was submitted that the extension had the potential to create around 250 jobs during the construction phase and when the new buildings are occupied, bringing an additional potential £11m to the local economy .

Speaking after the meeting, Councilor Lee Breckon, cabinet member for corporate resources, said: “Airfield Park has already been an incredibly successful development and we are delighted to be moving on to the third and final phase. Based on the interest we have already had, we know that more companies are set to relocate to Airfield Business Park and Market Harborough, which will continue to benefit the local economy and local jobs.”

Councilors voted unanimously at the meeting to approve the scheme.