Bosses at Tim Hortons are thrilled about winning their appeal for a new Dundee location.
The Canadian coffee brand won a final bid for the site by appealing to the Scottish Government. Dundee City Council rejected their first two bids.
The support from locals delighted Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Hydes since the council remained opposed.
“We have been truly humbled by the support and encouragement we’ve received from the local community since our applications first started,” he said.
“This has very much reassured us of our place within Dundee.
“We are delighted the appeals against the refusal of Planning Permission and Matters Specified in Conditions have both been upheld. We are pleased to see that common sense has prevailed in the end.”
Local dispute
The Dundee Cycling Forum were among the dissenters to the new location. They believed the choice was “car centre” and pointed to many empty potential sites in the city centre. But Tim Hortons remained undeterred and pushed for the site.
Councillors claimed the retail park location contradicted their city centre first policy, however the Scottish Government ruled otherwise. An appeals reporter concluded that “the economic benefit, regeneration of the site and the provision of local facilities, justified a departure from the development plan”.
Now Kevin Hydes is keen to get to work on the new Tim Hortons site in Dundee right away.
“We look forward to developing and opening a Tim Hortons drive-thru restaurant at New Craigie Retail Park as soon as possible, providing many job opportunities and creating a great environment for the local community to utilise,” he said.
Bosses say the new coffee shop and drive-thru will create around 50 jobs for locals.
There will be indoor and outdoor seating for more than 80 customers, as well as the drive-thru facility.