Plan for new Washington drive-thru coffee shop, trade unit and electric car charging hub unveiled

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for land off Armstrong Road near the Washington B&Q store.

Applicant Eshton Thirty One Ltd is applying for permission for the erection of a “coffee drive-thru, trade unit (Class B8) and EV charging hub.”

It is not the first time plans have been submitted for the site, with a previous bid from Buccleuch Property (Beckton) Limited aiming to build Starbucks and Burger King ‘drive-thrus’ on the land.

However, the plans were refused by Sunderland City Council’s planning department back in December, 2023, for several reasons, including impacts on childhood obesity in the area and the development offering “a main town centre use within an out-of-centre location, despite there being sequentially preferable sites within the designated Washington town centre.”

Previous plans for the site named Starbucks and Burger King in planning documents, but the latest planning bid for the site, from a different applicant, does not explicitly reference the names of the prospective occupiers for the proposed units.

However, design images in planning documents show a proposed drive-thru building with a similar appearance to established Starbucks drive-thru sites elsewhere in the North East.

The design and access statement notes the drive-thru coffee shop and EV charging hub have been “designed to meet the end user’s requirements,” while the trade unit is “currently a speculative design”.

Those behind the scheme noted that “access into the site proposes to utilise the existing access already established from Cragside Road” and that a “new estate road is proposed to tie into this and continue through the centre of the site”.

It was also noted that the drive-thru lane had been “designed to meet the minimum length required by the prospective end user, preventing queuing out into the new estate road”.

Elsewhere, planning documents noted that the “12no. electric vehicle charging bays are proposed to be controlled by an independent operator”.

Standard parking for a “variety of users” is expected to be provided across the site, along with a total of six cycle spaces to serve the drive-thruunit and four cycle spaces proposed for the trade unit.

The design and access statement adds: “The site is an existing development plateau with an access junction already in place.

“The proposals are for a drive-thru unit, a trade unit, an EV charging hub and associated hard and soft landscaping.

“The design has been developed in close collaboration with the intended drive-thru and EV hub operators to ensure the most efficient use of the site.

“The trade unit is currently a speculative design.

“The site is easily accessible to all modes of transport and provides easy access within the site curtilage.

“The new proposals will attract further job opportunities and contribute further facilities to the local area.”

A decision on the planning application is expected following a council consultation exercise.

Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website lists a decision deadline of January 9, 2026.

For more information on the plan, or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 25/02572/FUL

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