Demolition would pave way for new Aberdeen drive-thru

A bid has been made to demolish part of a former Aberdeen retail unit so work can get under way to turn it into a drive-thru.

Proposals were submitted last year for the now-closed Maplin and Carphone Warehouse store at the Haudagain Retail Park, to turn the site into a drive-thru cafe, with approval given by the council earlier this year.

Now a demolition warrant has been submitted to Aberdeen City Council for the development by Coogan and Company Architects on behalf of applicants Kirk Bryson (Northern) Ltd.

If approved, part of the site would be demolished, and alteration and refurbishments of the existing unit would be carried out, to form the new facility.

Other associated site works, car parking and drainage installations would also be started to support the development.

As a result, there will be two drive-thru facilities in the Haudagain Retail Park, as KFC is already at the site.

It is estimated the value of the work would be £149,850.

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The development will include a restaurant area with 48 covers, cafe bar, window to serve cars, unisex toilet, disabled toilet, bin stores, kitchen facilities and an office area.

The drive-thru would be able to accommodate around nine vehicles, based on the number of cars observed using the adjacent KFC facility.

Concerns were previously raised about the number of cars using the site.

A planning statement submitted by Jacquelyn Mawhinney on behalf of Coogan and Co alongside the application said: “The maximum queue observed at the existing KFC was five vehicles.

“There is no reason to assume that the drive-thru queue at the new restaurant will be any different, but there is space for almost twice that queue length before it would affect other parts of the car park.

“The drive-thru arrangement has been revised to avoid any conflict between vehicles entering the drive thru queue and those exiting the queue.

“The road has been demarcated with arrows, no entry and a box junction for clarity.”

In approving the planning application, Daniel Lewis, development management manager at Aberdeen City Council said: “The proposed use would have no demonstrable adverse impact on residential amenity.

“The principle of the loss of the former retail use was accepted in the previous planning permission for the property.

“The proposed pedestrian access would improve pedestrian connection to North Anderson Drive, additionally appropriate cycle parking is proposed.”

The outside of the unit will also undergo a facelift.

The existing eaves and metal details will be painted gunmetal grey, and there will be an aluminium pressed metal canopy in light grey, as well as proposed feature lighting above the doorway to assist easy entry.

Aberdeen City Council has set a target date of December 17 for a decision regarding the demolition warrant.