Appeal launched over refusal of drive-thru KFC and Starbucks on A55 in Flintshire

An appeal has been launched following the refusal of plans to build a new drive-thru KFC and Starbucks at the side of the A55 in Flintshire.

An application was put forward in September 2019 for the fast food and coffee giants to move onto a piece of land next to a branch of McDonald’s at the Singing Kettle services in Lloc, near Holywell.

Franchise firm Gastronomy Foods said it would result in the creation of 60 jobs and cater to holidaymakers who use the busy expressway to travel along the North Wales coast.

The scheme was backed for approval by Flintshire Council officers ahead of a meeting last month, but was rejected by councillors amid concerns about the impact on the surrounding countryside and traffic volumes.

The company has now lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate in a bid to have the decision overturned.

Outlining their case, agents acting on behalf of Gastronomy claimed there was a lack of service station facilities along the dual carriageway.

In an appeal statement, they said: “It has been established within this statement that the A55 is a strategic route linking England with North Wales and many tourist attractions.

“It has been demonstrated that there is limited existing service provision along the A55 corridor.

“It has also been shown that, potentially associated with the lack of facilities overall on the A55, the existing service area at the appeal site is suffering from levels of demand that cannot be catered for.

“This has been illustrated through the over-trading of the McDonalds restaurant and the overspill car parking that is occurring on surrounding roads due to a lack of parking provision within the existing site.

“It has been shown that the proposal will meet with its own parking demand and with spare remaining capacity.”

Ahead of last month’s planning committee meeting, Whitford councillor Chris Dolphin called for the scheme to be rejected.

He said the proposals would harm the surrounding countryside and potentially lead to more collisions on the roads around the site.

Chief planning officer Andrew Farrow said in his report to the committee that the impact on the area had been considered, but concluded the scheme would not cause significant harm.

He added that a traffic regulation order would be put in place to stop people parking on surrounding streets.

However, the majority of councillors voted in favour of refusing the scheme and the appeal will now be considered by inspectors at a later date.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter