New drive-thru planned by the WBA football ground

A new KFC drive-thru will be built opposite West Bromwich Albion’s home ground The Hawthorns.

A planning application by fast food chain KFC to build a new restaurant and drive-thru on the corner of Birmingham Road and Park Lane in West Bromwich.

The drive-thru, a stone’s throw from the Championship club’s home ground, would be open 24 hours a day according to the planning application.

The work also includes a 19-space car park, electric vehicle (EV) charging points and outdoor seating.

Sandwell Council had approved plans in 2022 by coffee shop chain Tim Hortons for a new drive-thru on the site but it was never built. 

KFC said the proposed drive-thru would follow a similar size and layout as the plans approved more than three years ago.

The former office blocks in Park Lane, which had been empty since 2019, were demolished as part of the original Tim Horton plans in 2023. 

The new drive-thru would create 30 full and part-time jobs according to the application.

A statement by Savills on behalf of KFC said: “The principle of development was clearly understood and accepted through the earlier grant of full planning permission for the development of a Tim Horton coffee shop and restaurant whereby it was accepted it would occupy a parcel of land surplus to requirements for the current operator, a position which has not changed in the intervening period. 

“The same principles for the site’s redevelopment remain consistent with current policy and therefore should continue to be considered acceptable.

“The proposal would see the currently vacant land brought into a complementary use to those in the surrounding Birmingham Road, which represents a mixed commercial area. 

“The proposals would be of an appropriate nature and scale to the location and represent a significant investment in the site that will have a series of positive economic effects, each use attracting a broad range of customers.”