Work on Starbucks conversion begins in Stockton

Stockton’s former Mile House had been the subject of a long-running planning saga which finally ended late last year.

Developers were given the thumbs up to transform the boarded-up site into a Starbucks after an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate last year.

Diggers and builders were spotted at work on Monday beginning work to convert the former pub.

Read more: Sunderland Airshow cancelled for third year due to Covid

Cliff Court Developments vowed to pump money into the £2.4m Durham Road scheme until it was passed last year.

Stockton Council refused permission for the scheme in 2020 – ruling plans to extend the dilapidated pub and convert it into a shopping unit, vets and drive-thru were an “over-development”.

A subsequent appeal to the inspectorate hit the buffers.

Adjusted plans were lodged again in 2021 – but Stockton Council planning committee voted down the scheme after officials shared concerns over the layout and traffic flows from the new site.

Work on the Mile House, Stockton, begins. Picture: Terry Blackburn

However, Cliff Court won its appeal this time around with the inspectorate ordering the council to pay costs to the developer due to delays.

Inspectors visited the site on a “weekday morning rush hour”- and found “no evidence” that safety of drivers and pedestrians – or air quality – would be compromised.

“Traffic around the site was brisk and the junction was busy, but orderly,” the report added.

Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham, who rallied against the drive-thru on safety grounds, called the decision to approve the scheme “shameful” and “deeply disappointing”.

The developer estimated it has spent around £100,000 in fees, on top of thousands in lost business-rate revenues – which could have gone back into council coffers if the site had been occupied.

Last month, developer John Taylor said the plans for the “well-loved” but “seriously dilapidated” site would create more than 30 jobs with four rapid car charging points installed alongside the other facilities.

He added: “Local residents, I am sure, will all be delighted that this eyesore will be redeveloped whilst retaining some original features of the building.”