A new £1 million drive-thru restaurant – which would create up to 40 jobs – could be on the way to the borough.
Plans for the development – close to the Boulevard retail park at Banbridge – have been submitted to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
And it is understood that the new outlet will be a KFC venture.
Proposals are for a single storey drive-thru restaurant and landscaping.
The development will also provide an outdoor seating area and lighting, height restrictors, a gas tank enclosure and all associated site and access works.
It would be located on the Cascum Link, 150 metres south west of the Boulevard.
The application has been submitted in the name of Cappard Ltd.
According to a supporting planning statement, the new drive-thru would create between 30 and 40 full and part-time positions.
It will have the provision for 52 car parking spaces and two disabled bays, but there would be ‘shared’ parking too with the nearby retail park.
The planning statement says: “The site benefits from the adjacent retail attractions associated with the retail park and its strategic location along the A1 between Newry and Belfast.”
It explains that the existing junction would be upgraded, and there would also be improved pedestrian footways and lighting.
The planning statement insists that drive-thru restaurants are not appropriate town centre developments and there will be no impact on residential amenity, with tall mature trees used to screen from the nearest properties.
A car park study compares figures with seven others KFC outlets including Magherafelt, Antrim, Newtownabbey and Yorkgate in Belfast.
The applicant has asked that the matter permission be granted “at the earliest opportunity”.
Planners are now waiting on feedback from the statutory consultation process and public views before making informed recommendations to committee.
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