Plans for an AI coffee shop have been given the green light, despite concerns the town’s drains can’t cope.
Members of South Holland District Council’s (SHDC) planning committee approved plans for Steelframe Building Systems’ bid to build the coffee shop on the vacant land off King’s Road in Spalding, writes Local Democracy Reporter Oliver Castle.
The development will also feature electrical vehicle charging, a car wash and car parking.
The land – which is owned by SHDC – has been empty for many years but will now become home to Bocca Coffee Drive-thru, which is the UK’s first-of-its-kind chain.
AI assisted voice technology would be used to take orders and could be used to provide suggestions about which drinks someone might want.
Although the shop will be powered by technology, the applicant said staff will still be employed at ther site.
The application received 12 public objections, with many residents raising concerns about the noise and the loss of privacy in the area.
A public right of way also runs alongside the site. The town’s railway line is located to the west, while a storage container business sits to the north of the land and Sainsbury’s is to the south.
At a meeting on Wednesday, July 22, Coun Paul Redgate backed the plans.
He said: “This is a really great use of what is a scrub site. It’s a nice infill.”
Coun Allan Beal said that it was a “very good use of a brownfield site”.
But Coun Sophie Hutchinson raised concerns about the coffee shop’s plan to connect to an Anglian Water sewer and explained that the utility firm has issued a formal objection to the development and fears this could be an issue.
She added: “Also, we are costing the public money. Anglian Water have quite clearly said they are at capacity in a lot of their areas.
“If developments do keep connecting to their sewers, the people paying their water bills are going to have to pay more.
“So, it is a really important issue and I would like to see it dealt with at the application stage rather than a condition.”
The application was approved subject to conditions.
