Canadian coffee shop and restaurant chain Tim Hortons proposal for Broadstairs Retail Park

Canadian chain Tim Hortons is heading for Westwood (Image istock)

A ‘Tim Hortons’ coffee shop/restaurant and drive-through at Broadstairs Retail Park that is expected to create 30 full time and 40 part time jobs is likely to be approved by Thanet council.

The Canadian food chain, launched in Ontario in 1964, began to expand to the UK in 2017. It currently has 29 venues open and more  due to open across the UK with the nearest site to Thanet currently in Thurrock.

The Thanet outlet would be the first in Kent and shares the same retail park as Tesco Extra, Currys/PC World, The Range and Wickes. The park will also be the new base for the Thanet covid vaccination team which is moving out of the Saga premises this weekend.

The chain offers food including doughnuts, bagels, burgers and pancakes and a variety of coffees and cold drinks.

The proposal includes new road markings to reduce congestion, a paved seating area, a drive thru lane, 22 car park spaces (including 2  disabled spaces), 3 motorcycle spaces and a sheltered cycle stand. There is also a proposed pedestrian pathway.

A planning application submitted to Thanet council describes the company, saying: “Tim Hortons is a relatively new entrant to the UK market and can best be described as a restaurant chain with a coffee and bakehouse offer.

“The brand was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It has since grown into Canada’s most loved brand with over 4,500 stores from coast to coast. Known affectionately as ‘Timmy’s’, it is a place famous for its fresh coffee and baked goods and is visited by more than 5.3m Canadians daily.

“Tim Hortons opened its first store in the UK in 2017 and (at the time of writing) has 29 units across all four countries of the UK, with more opening soon. Its current focus is to expand its drive-thru model across the UK, including at the application site.

“The Tim Hortons offer is different from that provided by the likes of McDonalds, KFC and Burger King and is comparable to that provided by coffee shop operators such as Costa or Starbucks, with a substantial part of the offer comprising hot and cold beverages and bakery goods, including an extensive choice of donuts. The hot food offer includes paninis and ‘melts’ as well as hot sandwiches and wraps, again similar to other coffee shop operators.

“There is also a greater emphasis on the ambiance of the restaurant facilities, encouraging customers to dine in.”

The Broadstairs venue would be  260 sq. m (2,800 sq. ft) with its length approximately parallel to Margate Road. Internally, the coffee shop/restaurant would accommodate seating for approximately 96 customers, together with a waiting and queuing area, customer toilets and back of house/kitchen area.

There would be both drive-thru and pedestrian access and would open (for trade) from 6am-11pm seven days a week.

Planning officers recommend approval in a report to planning committee members, saying: “The proposal will result in the loss of open space, along with the loss of a small number of trees, however the submitted landscaping plan shows that new tree/hedge/shrub planting is proposed, along with the establishment of a wildflower meadow.

“Benches are proposed along the existing southern footpath, which will enable the appreciation of these spaces whilst also providing additional seating space within the town centre, between Broadstairs Retail Park and Westwood Cross.

“Whilst the loss of the open space and 5 trees will result in some environmental harm, the proposed landscaping, which incorporates the planting of 10 trees, is considered to, on balance, enhance the biodiversity and landscape appearance of the site.

“Overall it is considered that the economic benefits to the town centre from the erection of this additional restaurant unit are considered to outweigh the limited environmental harm, and as such it is recommended that members approve the application, subject to safeguarding conditions and the signed legal agreement securing the electric vehicle charging spaces.”

The application will be discussed on January 19. The planning meeting starts at 7pm.

64 Comments

  1. if i ever have a lottery win i might pop in for a cup of something , if its a large win i might have something to eat as well

  2. Just what Westwood needs, another trash food outlet where the fat and obese can go to stuff their faces with junk food, so not needed, TDC are a disgrace for even considering this proposal. they openly encourage people with little or no willpower to eat this type of food.

    • How negative are you Leslie? If you was in thanet council would you have it a waste ground forever. We can’t all lose out from the choices of some. It’s a shame thanet is full of people like you so negative minded

      • If you are going to reply to me Trete at least have the decency to spell my name correctly it’s there in front of you for goodness sake, negativity does not kill you obesity does, no town needs all these coffee/junk food shops and before any one says Westwood is not a town it soon will be and not every one wants to live in an area dominated by junk food/coffee shops

    • Coffee and bakery goods like Paninis? Trash food? Sounds ok if as part of a balanced diet no?

      Do you even know what this chain does?!?

      • not impressed, they turn out overpriced food with fancy names, a panini a toasted sandwich, doughnuts and burgers hardly healthy. Once in a wile is OK but not regularly expensive beverages,but the if you have the money to buy these things who am I to say?

    • What a nasty and negative person you are,you should be ashamed of yourself by calling people fat and obese.i think you should think about what you say on here first or don’t say anything

    • Get a life ,if people want to eat food from takeaway places what has it got to do with you, take a look at the menu before you give the place a bad name, 👎 a far better menu than all the other drive thru in the area?

  3. Great to have another business which will offer local employment. However it’s a shame that rather than build something new, they can’t take over one of the existing empty premises at Westwood Cross. But of course, that may mean customers actually having to park and walk a few steps to the store to collect their order rather than sitting in the comfort of their car and just sticking out an arm to receive it!!

    • It would be good to see large chains investing in our town centres again, but maybe those days are gone. Subway in ramsgate has closed, which is another small blow for the town

  4. Why don’t you set up a healthy eating restaurant in Thanet Lesley which only sells low calorie meals and see how that business gets on ?

  5. IF I remember correctly, from a visit to Canada, they serve small round balls of donut. These, I was reliably informed, are the middle bits of ring donuts. Honest!

  6. 2 many drive through outlets in Westwood Cross, it would be better and more enticing as a seated only outlet.

  7. What that makes no sense? It will have a large seated area and a drive through. If you want to eat in lovely. Some of us are as fortunate to be able to do that so Drive through options are wonderful.

    I think this is a lovely addition to the options we have at Westwood and actually creating jobs. Unlike some of the “businesses” people seem intent on inflicting on Thanet.

  8. Another coffee shop doesn’t bother me, but saying they will plant a wild flower meadow is a bit much, I mean the area concerned is hardly big enough for a plant Box let alone a meadow.

  9. A word to all of you who think all these fast food and coffee shops are a good idea you obviously do not live with all the rubbish that people drop when they have finished stuffing their faces the rats attracted by this rubbish and the pets and people who are bitten by these rats and the cleanliness of where other people live is obviously of no concern to them. It would seem people who use theses outlets do not know what a rubbish bin is or what it’s there for. .

  10. You lot know diddly squat about me yet you call me rude when in reality those who hide behind initials and silly freakin names are the rude ones I am entitled to an opinion and if any of you do not like my comments it’s you problem not mine.

  11. It’s funny how so many people are commenting here and I bet none of them have ever been to a Tim’s.

    It’s all about the Timbits, even if they are way more expensive in the Uk.

  12. Fred I have been to Hortons several of them in fact, just hope the uk staff are better than they are in other places like Costa. McDonalds and others.

  13. Well I have to say Tim Hortons I have experienced first hand In Toronto and the experience was lovely I only had coffee but I went back the next day because it was so nice Lesley Peeling I would like to invite to Tim Hortons and I will buy you a coffee and have that experience you might even like it

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