Starbucks has opened in Caerphilly town, but were residents properly consulted on it?

The latest branch of the American coffee chain has been built in the car park of Asda on Pontygwindy Road as part of a nationwide roll-out of new drive-thrus.

The scheme is being driven by Euro Garages – whose owners, the Issa brothers, bought Asda for £6.8bn from US firm Walmart in 2020.

The firm, already a franchisee of Starbucks, opened its first Asda car park drive-thru in Manchester at the end of 2020. Caerphilly is the latest such project to be granted planning permission.

But there was no planning meeting with councillors to discuss traffic levels or for residents to voice concerns over noise, so why were residents not told?

According to the planning report, a notice was displayed locally and letters were sent to residents.

However, Caerphilly Observer has spoken with people living nearby who say they feel let down by the lack of consultation.

One said: “The Asda traffic is a nightmare – the supermarket was built long before I moved here, but the traffic that will come here will be different.

“You go to Asda, you park up and do your shopping. These cars will be sat there idling while they wait for their coffee.”

For an example of this you don’t have to look far. Costa Coffee drive-thru at Gallagher Retail Park was converted from a Pizza Hut in 2019. Traffic can often be seen queuing out of it and McDonalds – blocking the road and roundabout.

These traffic concerns were raised at the appropriate meeting and while councillors still approved Costa, at least residents had the chance to voice their concerns and get councillors to discuss them.

So what happened here?

Each week the council publishes a list of planning applications it has received. Not all of them end up with the planning committee. For example, if someone wants to build an extension to their house, this is usually decided by council officers. Large scale developments, such as a housing estate or new supermarket, are decided by the planning committee.

Councillors have the power to request certain planning applications go before the committee though.

They were able to request that any application go before the committee, but a change in the rules means there now has to be “material planning grounds” for a call-in to be approved.

In this instance a “material planning ground” could have been concerns over traffic. In documents submitted as part of the application, there is an admission from consultants Asbri Planning that estimating traffic levels is difficult because placing drive-thrus in supermarket car parks is ‘an emerging trend’.

However, the report drawn up by planning officers came to the conclusion that traffic levels would not change significantly.

A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesperson said this application was correctly decided under the rules set out by the council’s constitution.

Cllr Jamie Pritchard is the council’s deputy leader and represents the Morgan Jones ward – in which Asda is located.

He admitted he had missed the application when it was submitted just as Wales went into lockdown in March 2020.

The Labour councillor said: “The weekly list was sent to local members on April 7 2020, and at the height of the first lockdown, when councils temporarily ceased meetings.

“After lockdown was announced, I threw myself right into an emergency Covid response, assisting shielding residents in the immediacy of the Covid pandemic.

“I’ve been in touch with local residents who have raised the issue with me, and I will keep in touch with them through the process.”

Plaid Cymru’s Phil Bevan, who is standing down from representing the Morgan Jones ward on the county council next month, said he expressed concerns of the location to council planners.

What can be done to stop this from happening in the future?

Caerphilly County Borough Council publishes its weekly planning application list on its website for residents to look at.

Certain applications also have to be advertised in the press, and the council regularly publishes such notices with Caerphilly Observer.

Planning notices are often taped to lampposts and nearby residents should also be notified by letter.

If residents see an application they are unhappy with then they should get in touch with their relevant ward councillor – whoever that might be after the election on May 5.

This article was originally published the day before Starbucks was opened and has been amended to reflect this.