Petition launched to stop development of Starbucks drive-thru at Galway Shopping Centre

A PETITION HAS been launched to vocalise opposition to the development of a Starbucks drive-thru at Galway Shopping Centre on Headford Road.

The proposed development is in the very centre of Galway city, around 650m from Eyre Square and beside an existing Supermac’s drive-thru.

An application for the development was lodged with Galway City Council last week. A decision is due on 7 October.

Applicant Atercin Liffey Unlimited stated within its planning application that the proposed new development will consist of the construction of a new single story drive-through hatch to the rear elevation of the existing coffee shop.

The development would reconfigure the existing car park. This would mean the inclusion of a new vehicle circulation route and a collection point.

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Pedestrian pathways in this car park would also be reconfigured to accommodate the development.

The Galway Commuter Coalition, a community-led transport advocacy group, said it had established the petition against the drive-thru as it had major concerns regarding the potential impact of its development.

It argued it would generate more traffic at an already congested junction and encourage further car-dependent development in a “highly central urban location”, decreasing footfall in the city centre.

Its chair Cathal Lawlor said the area can make “better use of sites like this”.

“Another drive-thru at the Galway Shopping Centre is the last thing the Headford Road and the surrounding area need, and the Galway public agree,” he said.

Atercin Liffey Unlimited, a company established by brothers Ciaran and Colum Butler in 2012, operates as many as 88 Starbucks locations in Ireland, according to Repak.