Plans to convert disused Leamington pub near McDonald's into drive-thru coffee shop

A long disused Leamington pub in the South of the town could be converted into a drive-thru coffee shop.

The Waterside Inn in Queensway, next to the McDonald’s Drive-thru, has been closed for several years and plans have already been put forward to replace it with eight residential units.

But the new plans, put forward to Warwick District Council (WDC) by Gentian Leamington Spa Ltd, propose a different use for the pub building – which was built and opened as The Tiller Pin in the 1990s.

Under the drive-thru plans, the building would remain mostly unchanged.

In its design and access statement for the planning application, Southampton-based architecture firm Boyle & Summers has said: “The proposals are to convert the existing building into a coffee drive-thru unit with associated parking and amenity space with enhanced hard and soft landscaping.

"The proposed new café use intends to breath new life into this prominent waterside site.

"Restoring the building and landscaping of this attractive canal side site will attract a wide range of visitors and customers.

"The proposal brings an old and tired building in a prominent waterside location back to life to provide a new local facility for the benefit of the local community and the wider area.”

In 2015, Costa Coffee opened Leamington’s first drive-thru coffee shop.

And Caffé Nero has just announced that it is planning to open drive-thru and ‘drive-to’ branches at retail parks across the UK.

To view the application search for W/24/0434 on WDC’s planning portal.