A COSTA Coffee drive-thru will be built in a Haverfordwest retail park, council planners have decided.

Plans for the drive-thru coffee shop were submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning office on March 8, with proposals to demolish and replace the Murco filling station at the Withybush retail park.

On Thursday, May 2, Pembrokeshire County Council gave the coffee shop the go-ahead, with conditional approval.

The company behind the new coffee shop is Motor Oil Limited, the owner of Murco filling stations, with Costa Coffee being the proposed operator for the shop.

A design and access statement by JMS Planning and Development about the proposed new Costa said the shop will have 29 parking spaces outside where the petrol station forecourt currently stands.

The statement adds the shop could provide up to 18 part-time or full time jobs, or the equivalent of 11 full-time employment jobs to locals.

When the new Costa drive-thru in Milford Haven opened on March 1, it had a team of 14 people according to the manager.

Costa does not use zero-hours contracts, and pays all its employees at least the minimum wage for 25 year olds and above, regardless of their age, which is currently £8.21 an hour.

Haverfordwest Town Council had raised an objection to the development, based on the extra traffic queuing the drive-thru would bring to the retail park.

But a report by PCC’s highways department was satisfied by the layout of the shop, and said its parking spaces would be needed to prevent traffic congestion at the site.

“The drive-thru layout appears satisfactory in terms of the location of the ordering and collection points, so as not to cause congestion,” added the report.

Though permission has been granted to Motor Oil Limited for the demolition and building of the new coffee shop, there are conditions they must obey.

These include decommissioning fuel tanks at the former petrol station and removing any contamination found in the ground as works take place.

The 29 parking spaces will also have to be in place before the new shop opens.

Planning reference: 18/1252/PA