Starbucks steams to success in appeal (From The Argus)
Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
Starbucks steams to success in appeal
2:08pm Wednesday 1st July 2009 in News By Samuel Underwood
Coffee giant Starbucks has won an appeal to keep a controversial café open.
The US chain opened the branch in St James's Street, Brighton, in May last year - despite being refused planning permission by Brighton and Hove City Council just days earlier.
The council rejected the firm's bid to convert the former bookshop in order to limit the number of coffee shops and restaurants in the area.
The building has permission to be used for retail use but not as a coffee shop.
But Starbucks ran rough-shod over planning rules - appealing against the council's decision and remaining open while the appeal process was underway.
That sparked a series of weekly protests by anti-Starbucks campaigners outside the building each Saturday and more than 3,000 signatures collected on a petition.
Now, following the hearing last month, a planning inspector has ruled that the branch must be granted planning permission as it did not adversely affect the vitality and viability of St James' Street.
Green ward Cllr Rachel Fryer, who was heavily involved in the campaign, described the result as a “slap in the face” for the thousands of people who had fought it.
Comments(33)
Whitedot
says...
2:27pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jonathon
says...
2:29pm Wed 1 Jul 09
Mike Dalley
says...
2:36pm Wed 1 Jul 09
The shop was not empty or boarded up when Starbucks somehow moved in. They also knew full well that it was licensed for A1 use, hence planning was refused.
BiggerH
says...
2:47pm Wed 1 Jul 09
it's madness - half a Kronie is only £ 1.60
pun master
says...
3:16pm Wed 1 Jul 09
Arnie
says...
3:20pm Wed 1 Jul 09
While we're at it, why not just flatten Brighton and turn it into a giant Tesco?
jyan
says...
3:20pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jonathon wrote:It's the most over-priced coffee in St James St. How about I sell you a normal cup of coffee for £5, or a "special" coffee for £10...obviously I wouldn't charge that much if it wasn't the best! ;-)
I am so pleased of Starbucks. We now must all have a coffee there just to prove all the idiots who protested outside this fantastic coffee house cannot tell us where or where not we can go. Its the best coffee in St James Street and good luck to them.
GaryS9
says...
3:59pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jonathon
says...
3:59pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jyan wrote:Poor sad person.
jonathon wrote: I am so pleased of Starbucks. We now must all have a coffee there just to prove all the idiots who protested outside this fantastic coffee house cannot tell us where or where not we can go. Its the best coffee in St James Street and good luck to them.It's the most over-priced coffee in St James St. How about I sell you a normal cup of coffee for £5, or a "special" coffee for £10...obviously I wouldn't charge that much if it wasn't the best! ;-)
Brian62
says...
4:05pm Wed 1 Jul 09
superlative
says...
4:14pm Wed 1 Jul 09
I'm delighted. I live very close to the Starbucks in question and like having it there. It looks nice, people use it, and it's not as though the other coffee shops on the road are empty because of it.
On top of that, the protesters were an intolerable nuisance, with their stupid megaphone and misleading placards. I'm glad they lost.
jyan
says...
4:29pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jonathon wrote:Is that the best riposte you can do? Tut tut. I won't be as poor as you spending all you cash in Starbucks!
jyan wrote:Poor sad person.
jonathon wrote: I am so pleased of Starbucks. We now must all have a coffee there just to prove all the idiots who protested outside this fantastic coffee house cannot tell us where or where not we can go. Its the best coffee in St James Street and good luck to them.It's the most over-priced coffee in St James St. How about I sell you a normal cup of coffee for £5, or a "special" coffee for £10...obviously I wouldn't charge that much if it wasn't the best! ;-)
jyan
says...
4:31pm Wed 1 Jul 09
you = your
Osama bin there
says...
4:46pm Wed 1 Jul 09
But I'm pleased that they have been allowed to stay open - just because it annoys all the people in Brighton who waste so much of their lives protesting about trivia.
Ha! Ha! Ha! is what I say.
b9boy
says...
4:58pm Wed 1 Jul 09
3:20pm Wed 1 Jul 09
So is there any point in having planning regulations and laws? This is nothing to do with whether you like the coffee or not - If I went ahead and built something I wasn't supposed to, I'd be fined lots of money and receive a visit from the bulldozers."
I think you'll find it came out at the appeal that 4 other coffee shops on St James's Street did not have the correct planning permission - some of which were involved in the protest...
Chicken and Beans
says...
5:48pm Wed 1 Jul 09
John Steed
says...
6:37pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jonathon
says...
7:03pm Wed 1 Jul 09
Chicken and Beans wrote:If these protesters want to do something worth-while for St James Street, do something about the drug dealer, junkies and drunks that make your beloved street such a pigsty. Chicken and Beans I could not agree with you more but I don't think many of them want to work, they are happy being professional protesters.
HAH! Gutted, protesters. Now go have a bath and get job, soap-dodgers.
Osama bin there
says...
7:53pm Wed 1 Jul 09
jonathon wrote:I'm with you. At least having a Starbucks means that they have some clout, and maybe the area might get cleaned up.
Chicken and Beans wrote: HAH! Gutted, protesters. Now go have a bath and get job, soap-dodgers.If these protesters want to do something worth-while for St James Street, do something about the drug dealer, junkies and drunks that make your beloved street such a pigsty. Chicken and Beans I could not agree with you more but I don't think many of them want to work, they are happy being professional protesters.
It's the DRUNKS that are the major problem. They are the dregs.
Fercri Sakes
says...
8:06pm Wed 1 Jul 09
Shame there's some people here whose lack of understanding of economics and narrow-minded attitudes about protest in general make them see this as a success.
Jim BB
says...
8:34pm Wed 1 Jul 09
As for the planning process, they broke the rules but then followed them to win their appeal.
Time to address retrospective planning rules so it's not worth people's while to do so - or just make the planning process simpler so businesses don't have to fight so hard to survive when so many shops are going under or boarded up.
Dave Taliban
says...
9:24pm Wed 1 Jul 09
Always refreshing after a hard day repressing the locals.
puddingandpi
says...
9:30pm Wed 1 Jul 09
Now they just have to sort out the toilets.
Having 2 unisex loos just isn't working.
I know it might be sexist, but make the baby room / disabled loo into the ladies & leave the other one to the boys.
That way I won't have to clean the sodding toilet before I have a waz.
monkeyboy
says...
8:40am Thu 2 Jul 09
Carl Bugenhagen
says...
9:10am Thu 2 Jul 09
CaptainStarbucks
says...
3:04pm Thu 2 Jul 09
Fercri Sakes wrote:I am celebrating but would like to assure you that whilst I am a man I am anything but common! Plus I think my understanding of economics may come from my BA (Honours)in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. I think the only time sucking, money and Brighton come to mind is when I think of the Bulldog. How come there was less fuss at the openining of 2 sex shops in St James's St selling things that would frighten the horses (not to mention making their eyes water). If people want to frequent other coffee shops and boycott Starbucks then please do so but don't try to tell me where to buy my coffee please. You could go the coffee shop the bottom of the street and wait an eternity whilst the person serving you tells his mate about Wild Fruit last night and the trade he picked up, or the one in the middle which makes you go to the pub across the road to use their toilets
Anybody celebrating here is really celebrating the triumph of big business over the common man. Unfortunatly these days it's all about the money and now we'll have another shop sucking money from the Brighton economy. Shame there's some people here whose lack of understanding of economics and narrow-minded attitudes about protest in general make them see this as a success.
(thank you John at the St James's) or the one further up that thinks real coffee comes from a tin marked Nescafe! I look forward to spending my Saturdays in my garden without having to listen to a couple of talentless musicians making a noise like a constipated duck outside Starbucks, being able to walk along the Street without the pavement being blocked by a couple of old biddies smelling of cheap sherry and urine and shopping once again in my LOCAL street after it having being hijacked by the "bohemian" Hanover set.
b9boy
says...
6:18pm Thu 2 Jul 09
Jay-kay
says...
7:07pm Thu 2 Jul 09
TheTruthIsOut
says...
11:40pm Thu 2 Jul 09
No.
Neither have we heard anything about how the "protesters" have been vandalising the inside and outside of the store, or even when one of them decided to assault a police officer when they were called to the store the other weekend.
What ALSO failed to make the paper was how a prominent Kemp Town resident had his car vandalised less than 24 hours after speaking out against the protesters.
And let's not forget the constant lies being spread by the protesters not only about Starbucks, but also about the status of the planning application. At one point, a local radio station was tricked into believing that the planning permission had been refused and that the store was to close. Presumably a pathetic attempt by these workshy scumbags to stop people from using the store.
Some of these "protesters" are little more than common criminals, and the sooner they give up and go back to their filthy hovels, the better.
Angela Brighton
says...
3:27am Fri 3 Jul 09
timm
says...
7:55am Fri 3 Jul 09
Coffee Drinker
says...
3:19pm Fri 3 Jul 09
Wake up and smell the Coffee
hoveboy says...
2:21pm Wed 1 Jul 09
hahahaha!!! Hooray and well done Starbucks! Seriously what the devil do the anti-starbucks crew think the alternative is?! Hardly the time for some little independant place to be asking for a loan to open up is it? So what? Just leave the place as another empty boarded up shop then?! W**kers. Wait for more upraor at the fact BHCC has allowed a business to run, a shop to not sit empty and for people to actually HAVE jobs. They'll be protesting by the end of the day no doubt - all before they get bored/run out of special brew and go off to get cheap booze at the noturious "local shop" Asda, that is is no way linked to a large corporation which uses agressive business tactics. Just stop protesting at the cafe you don't like and go put some money of the tills you're so vocal about supporting!