A Canadian coffee chain whose planning permission to open a branch in Dundee was knocked back by councillors last year has said it will keep applying until the green light is given.
Tim Hortons has reapplied to build a drive-thru at the New Craig Retail Park, which is due to be discussed at next week’s Dundee City Council planning committee meeting on February 15.
The original plans were rejected by councillors amid concerns it would draw footfall away from the city centre and objections from Dundee Cycling Forum.
While the resubmitted plans are largely the same as before, more cycle racks have been included to appease those concerns.
But even if the new plans are rejected again, UK chief commercial officer Kevin Hydes said the firm will continue to keep applying for permission.
He said: “We feel it’s very natural for us to be in Dundee. Given all the strong links and huge demand we have, we certainly wouldn’t be giving up on Dundee.
“In fact, over a period of time we hope to be able to grow the brand in and around Dundee and bring more job opportunities to the community.
“We’re committed to being there and we’re hoping that this will be passed at committee and that we can build this restaurant as quickly as we can and hopefully bring some positive joy to the people within the community.”
An appeal of the original rejection has also been made with the Scottish Government, but the case has been put on hold during lockdown.
Mr Hydes said the firm has carried out a social media survey to gather the views of people on the Dundee plans, which he said was overwhelming positive.
He said: “As part of engagement with local communities we often go out and talk about the fact that we’re coming to a town or a city and trying to understand the level of engagement.
“So we ran a social media campaign in Dundee… which had about 4,000 reactions, things such as likes and comments and shares. Of that, over 96% had positive sentiment about the brand.
“We’re kind of blown away by that really. That’s pretty phenomenal that that many people have taken time to comment and engage with us and are very eager to have the brand in the city.
“I would say this is the highest positive sentiment we have seen in any city in the UK to date.”
It is hoped that if the plans are approved the cafe will be built and opened by early 2022.
Kevin added: “All being well and we get an approval then we aim to be opening the restaurant within 12 months.
“There’s a period of time to build the restaurant of course, but we’d be going as quick as we can. We have no reason to hold things up.
“We’re operating in very challenging times. There’s been a lot of job losses and we can’t fill the whole gap, but we are trying to open up opportunities for over 50 employees.”
Plans for a Tim Hortons in Perth have recently been given the go ahead, which is expected to bring between 35 and 40 jobs to the Fair City.
