A PLAN to build a new Tim Hortons coffee shop and drive-thru in Bradford has been given the go-ahead.
Bradford Council approved an application by TH UK & Ireland Ltd to build the branch at the junction of Mill Lane and Manchester Road. The plan first emerged in May, when an application for signage revealed the Canadian chain wanted to open in the city.
In July, a full application for the development was submitted and shed more light on the company’s plans for the site, which has been vacant for nearly three years.
It said the development would re-use an “underutilised parcel of land in a gateway location that has been continuously marketed for commercial purposes since becoming vacant in October 2020”.
The application revealed Tim Hortons’ plan to operate a 24-hour drive-thru with 32 parking spaces. It said 50 full-time jobs would be created and the Bradford site would open in 2024 if plans are approved.
A planning statement said: “The proposal does not result in any adverse impacts in terms of highways, transport or parking, nor does it impact on residential amenity as there are no residential dwellings in close proximity to the proposed development site.
“In practice, the proposal will provide a facility for the local community to meet and socialise whilst eating and drinking in a family-friendly environment whilst creating jobs on a gateway site that has been vacant for several years and is in need of the physical regeneration and investment that will be delivered by the proposed development.”
It added that analysis showed that there are “no suitable or available sites within or closer to defined centres that could suitability accommodate the proposed development within a reasonable period of time”.
The planning statement said the new Tim Hortons would be complementary to the surrounding business uses, would be appropriate for the area, and would be an “attractive, contemporary building”.
Tim Hortons, a restaurant chain with a coffee and bakehouse offer, was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and has since grown to more than 4,500 stores across Canada.
Known affectionately as ‘Timmy’s’, Tim Hortons opened its first store in the UK in 2017 and now has more than 70 units across the country, including a branch at Birstall’s Junction 27 retail park.
