Costa drive-thru, cafe and gym set to open in Fife town

Franchise operator Cuppacoff SC Ltd applied at the start of the year to build the dual-purpose, two storey unit at the Donibristle Retail Park - also known as The Gateway" - on the edge of the Hillend Industrial Park, which has been redeveloped in recent years.

The unit will be subdivided on the ground floor, with the gym taking up the entirety of the storey above. An operator for the fitness suite has not been disclosed.

The Costa has been built with the nearby A921 in mind - seen by transport experts recruited by Cuppacoff as a vital link road to the M90 and other southern towns in the Kingdom.

Fife Council was satisfied with claims that the new drive-through would not create a troublesome number of extra journeys clogging up the roads - a maximum of 30 more an hour during the week and around 54 an hour at weekends.

As the area is already home to intense retail activity - surrounded by a new Aldi and an Asda and multiple small retail and food and drink units - and planning permission for a cafe on the same site was approved in 2019, the council deemed the dual-use unit an appropriate addition to the area.

Council planner Scott McInroy, approving the application, said the addition of the gym was "acceptable".

"The proposed development overall is considered to represent a visual improvement to the site and would also have no detrimental visual impact on the site or the surrounding area," he said.

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