CONTROVERSIAL proposals to bring another drive-thru coffee shop to a city retail park have been criticised by the man seeking to become Worcester's next MP.

Tom Collins, the man who hopes to become Worcester's next Labour MP, has hit out at an application to create a Starbucks at the Elgar Retail Park in Blackpole, Worcester.

Worcester News: ACTION: L-R Tom Collins (Labour candidate to become Worcester MP), resident Matt Brown and Cllr Jill Desayrah with Buzz, Mr Brown's dog ACTION: L-R Tom Collins (Labour candidate to become Worcester MP), resident Matt Brown and Cllr Jill Desayrah with Buzz, Mr Brown's dog (Image: Supplied)

The scheme is expected to go before Worcester's planning committee later this month but there have already been protests by residents concerned about traffic, noise and parking issues they fear it would generate.

Planning laws that put developers ahead of local people are to blame for a controversial planning dispute according to Labour’s prospective Worcester MP, Tom Collins.

The planning application has been made by Legal & General Assurance (Pensions Management). Residents have already held a protest over the plans which would see a seventh coffee outlet added to a local area. And while there are concerns over the loss of trees which provide shade and cooling to the car park, it is the impact on local traffic that is front and centre in the debate.

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County Council Highways officers have deemed the plans acceptable.

Warndon Labour City Councillor, Jill Desayrah, has become a critic of the proposals after a number of meetings with residents.

Cllr Desayrah, speaking ahead of the planning meeting on January 18, said: “Local developments including the new supermarket, and more recently two new coffee outlets on Blackpole retail park have pump-primed local traffic.

“Officers have told me that they predict a five per cent increase, and that this would have a small impact. But this ignores the fact that traffic has got so bad around Blackpole that it has now reached a critical tipping point.

"Residents tell me that the tipping point for traffic congestion came after the building of the Costa and Greggs pods on the Blackpole retail park. This proposed drive-thru restaurant is another pod, squeezed into a space the park as a whole was never designed for.

“I’ve asked highways to retrospectively check the accuracy of traffic impact estimates for planning applications. The basis of their approval is that all current traffic problems are acceptable simply because they already exist.

“But traffic from the drive-through will be the last straw, and the camel’s back is already at breaking point from the other local developments.

Tom Collins said: “The law makes local councils responsible for planning approvals. But it’s our national government who are to blame for rules that prohibit councils from rejecting plans that both officers and local people know will not work.

"In this case, it seems that officers are not being allowed to look at the cumulative impact of a rapid succession of new developments.

“We need a government that will reform planning, put local people first, and place local communities back in the driving seat. If elected, Labour has promised to move power out of Westminster and to reform planning law to give local people a stronger voice."

According to the proposals, 35 car parking spaces would be lost to the new drive-thru, although 11 would be provided elsewhere at the retail park.

The meeting takes place at Worcester Guildhall on January 18 at 3pm.