STARBUCKS’ first coffee shop in East Lothian looks set to be created on the outskirts of Haddington.

Plans for a drive-thru coffee shop at Gateside West were given the go-ahead by East Lothian Council last week.

The plans were lodged by Euro Garages Ltd, which is also behind the plans to transform the former Raceland karting centre, near Gladsmuir, into a roadside services hub.

Starbucks are not named as applicants but within documents included in the Haddington planning application is a drawing labelled as ‘Starbucks site’.

A spokeswoman for the coffee shop giants was tight-lipped as to whether they had any involvement with the proposals.

She told the Courier: “I’m afraid we aren’t able to comment on planning applications at this point in time.”

Plans for the coffee shop – which would be open seven days a week, from 6am to 11pm, and employ about 20 members of staff – were discussed by the town’s community council last month.

They raised concerns about the noise generated by vehicles visiting the business.

East Lothian Council has now given planning permission with a condition stating that an “acoustic barrier” has to be created between the boundary of the site and neighbouring houses.

Jan Wilson, chairwoman of the town’s community council, was hopeful the development would not impact upon similar businesses in the town centre.

She said: “It might get more passing trade or trade from people who live up there [but]I would not specifically go up there for a cup of coffee.”

There will be parking for 23 vehicles, including two disabled bays, as well as an electrical charging unit and spaces for bicycles.

While drawings included in the application show more than 70 seats inside the shop.

The plans were discussed by Haddington Business Community Partnership (HBCP), which met last Tuesday.

David Diggory, a member of HBCP who has run Diggory’s Coffee Shop on Haddington High Street for nearly seven years, was confident that the introduction of another coffee shop-type business would not have a detrimental impact on his own business.

He said: “My opinions obviously don’t necessarily reflect the whole of the group but I do kind of feel it is more competition for the likes of Costa Coffee [which has a cafe in the town’s Tesco] than myself.

“There have been many places opened up in and around High Street and people still find us.

“People that want to shop local and support local businesses will continue to do so.”

Originally, the site was identified for a pub/restaurant as part of a wider plan for 112 houses and industrial units.

However, developers failed to find anyone interested in the section of land earmarked for a pub/restaurant and instead applied for permission for 16 houses to be built on the 0.4-hectare site.

East Lothian Council refused that planning permission 12 months ago before an appeal was dismissed by the council’s local review body, which stressed the council’s commitment to the land being used for employment.