An eyesore former pub will finally come down after planners approved a scheme to replace it with a drive-thru coffee shop.
Starbucks gained permission to build on the site of the Three Crowns – latterly the Cosmopolitan – on Manchester Road in Heaton Norris, which has lain empty since 2009 and become a magnet for vandalism and fly-tipping.
Previous abandoned planning applications for the plot of land at the junction with Hesketh Street include converting it into a nursery, a car wash, and most recently, a block of 16 apartments.
Stockport Council received 23 objections from nearby residents to the project, with road safety and loss of privacy being the main concerns.
Jeni Regan, the application’s case officer, acknowledged this in her report: “…[T]he existing public house has been vacant for a long period of time and residents living around the site have got used to the site not being used or visited by customers that could sit and look out of the existing windows.
“However, it must also be acknowledged that the existing building could be occupied at any time as a drinking establishment without any further planning permission.
“Therefore, overall, it is not considered that there would be any significant impacts from an overlooking or loss of privacy perspective when compared to the existing building.
“The level of traffic generated by the proposed use beyond that which could arise should the lawful use of the site recommence would not be of a level that will cause disruption to the highway network or cause harm to highway safety.”
However, there were also 17 letters of support, with those welcoming the redevelopment of the abandoned site focusing on job creation and an improved street scene.
The Starbucks will open between 6am and 10pm from Monday to Saturday, with 8am-8pm hours on Sundays and bank holidays.
As well as the coffee shop, plans for the 585m2 site include 16 parking bays, with two of those being accessible spaces and three with EV charging points.
Starbucks already has three sites in Stockport, including a drive-thru by the Portwood Roundabout just over a kilometre away.
