Among the data available on the city of Glasgow is one particularly incongruous pair of findings: it has some of the lowest levels of car ownership in the UK, but the greatest number of drive-through restaurants – almost 50 at the last count.
The latter has caused increasing frustration for residents, with at least 10 new applications lodged since 2019 and the vast majority granted. Campaigners have emphasised the apparent contradiction with Scotland’s view of itself as an ambitious climate leader, particularly following its hosting of Cop26 in 2021.
Now, that contradiction has been brought into sharp focus as Glasgow City Council gets set to consider plans for a drive-through Starbucks in the central Gorbals area in the same week as the city’s low emissions zone comes into force less than a mile away.
“The proposal is totally unnecessary, utterly short-sighted and entirely counterintuitive,” said Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who is among those objecting. “We should continue Glasgow’s progress by rejecting... proposals of this kind every step of the way.”
One Glasgow resident told the Observer they felt “crowded out” by new drive-throughs. “They don’t just encourage cars, they make it harder and more dangerous to walk and cycle nearby,” they said. “It’s like cars have more rights than people.”
Other objections come from councillors and community groups, including nearby Gorbals Parish Church, which highlights environmental concerns, as well as pointing out that the proposed site is in an area of high deprivation and lower than average car ownership, making the development unlikely to benefit locals.
It joins a growing movement of campaigns across Scotland formed to oppose drive-throughs on the basis of health, safety and community benefit. In Glasgow’s west end, Love Thornwood was set up in opposition to Burger King and Starbucks drive-throughs built on green space, and continues to monitor accidents and air quality at the site. Elsewhere, campaigners have successfully halted plans for McDonald’s drive-throughs in East Lothian and Fife, and a Greggs site in Falkirk.
Since last year, the Scottish Greens have called for a total moratorium on all new drive-throughs in Glasgow, noting that the city is home to more than Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen combined, the vast majority run by multinational corporations.
“This is about what we want our cities to look like in 10 years’ time,” said Scottish Greens co-leader and MSP Patrick Harvie. “Glasgow is not going to meet its targets with business-as-usual approaches to development.”
“Cities that have made that shift away from cars are vibrant, pleasant, enjoyable places with high levels of walking and cycling,” Harvie continued. “That’s the vision we should have for Glasgow and Scotland, [not] profit from the community into a multinational’s balance sheet.”
While Glasgow is particularly affected, drive-throughs operated by Costa and Tim Hortons in Edinburgh and Aberdeen are among those currently under construction.
The continued approval of such plans is “particularly frustrating” in the light of new Scottish government planning policy which says local decisions should be made with regard to the Scottish government’s net zero 2045 target, says James White, professor of planning and urban design at the University of Glasgow.
“It’s a clear demonstration of the implementation gap between national net zero objectives and local planning decisions, but also a failure of local authorities to implement the policies they have set themselves,” he said. “Drive-through restaurants of any sort fall well short of efforts to create more walkable cities and make a mockery of other efforts by local authorities to encourage more sustainable behaviour.”
Starbucks and Glasgow City Council did not respond to requests for comment.
