Welshpool Town Council has said it feels it has been ignored over plans to build a new Costa drive-thru on the edge of town.
The council used a meeting on Wednesday evening (September 27) to restate its objections to a proposed drive-thru restaurant at Buttington, adding that members feel their comments are being ignored by Powys County Council.
At a meeting of the council’s planning committee councillors were asked to comment on an updated version of an application for planning permission to build a drive thru Costa Coffee branch in Buttington.
The update comes after Powys County Council approved the application on September 21, following extensive negotiations between Powys planning officers, the applicant, and Welsh Government officials since the proposal was first submitted in 2020.
Cllr Alison Davies said: “I think we should decline to comment, as we have already objected to the project and have been ignored at every turn, despite Powys Council's Towns First policy.
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“The effort we have made to make comments has been utterly disregarded.”
Cllr Ben Gwalchmai felt that the town council should still offer a comment, stating: “Though I agree with the points raised I do think it’s still important to make our objections clear, especially as the people of Buttington have made their objections clear.
“As a council we have been told by residents of the area that McDonald’s has already caused environmental and social damage and they won’t be tolerating any more as they fear other ventures will have a bigger impact.”
Cllr Phil Owen suggested that the town council raise an objection relating to how they feel their comments have been ignored.
He said: “If we decline to comment on this updated proposal, in doing so we should specify that we feel our comments have been ignored by Powys Council.”
The notion was seconded by Cllr David France, who spoke at the Powys Council planning meeting on the subject.
He said: “I hope you can understand how worried a lot of people in Welshpool are about this development and the wider trajectory it is part of.
“The out of town developments are already significant enough that Welshpool is being bypassed by some tourist traffic.
“This would send a clear message to investors that the town centre is done.
“Town centres are not dying they are being killed and the murder weapon is developments like this one.”
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