Costa drive-thru in Bedford approved despite objections

Bedford will have another coffee drive-thru after planning was approved for a site off Riverfield Drive.

A 24-hour Costa will be built by the B&M store despite objections from residents and their ward councillor.

A statement from councillor Billy Thompson (Lib Dem, Riverfield), who was ill and couldn’t attend the meeting, was read out during Monday’s Planning Committee (February 26).

The councillor said the objection was to “stand up for residents that will be hugely impacted if the green light is given”.

“The highways issues don’t seem to be fully considered,” he wrote.

“The application has been based on traffic statistics from 2017, and since 2017 there has been a significant amount of development in the area, which has caused a huge amount of traffic to be pushed to Riverfield Drive.

“If the Costa application is granted permission by the council tonight then more traffic will be forced down Riverfield Drive, as it will pull more vehicles into the estate.

“Riverfield Drive has for too long been seen by the council as being a safe road with very few issues.

“Many residents know when any problems happen on the bypass, traffic is directed down Riverfield Drive as drivers think it as a shortcut to get back onto the bypass at the later junction.

“This is even before we add into the mix the Costa application that will bring with it the traffic the Riverfield residents will have to endure.

“And with this drive-thru being 24 hours residents will not get any respite from this at all,” he wrote.

Council planning officer, Jonathan Warner, said that the application has estimated between 10 and 11 vehicles per hour.

“And there hasn’t been an objection from the highways officer, and we support the proposal,” he said.

The application was granted by the committee subject to planning conditions.