A SOMERSET council is to pay a private contractor up to £450,000 to build a new Costa Coffee outlet as part of its commercial investment programme.

South Somerset District Council allocated up to £700,000 of taxpayers’ money in its annual budget towards an investment in a branch of Costa Coffee, with the income being used to fund front-line services.

The council has also applied for planning permission in January to build a new coffee shop in the car park of the B&Q store in Glastonbury (which it also owns) – though the brand which would run the store was not confirmed.

Tender documents have now confirmed that Costa Coffee will be running this new outlet if planning permission is granted, as well as how much it will cost to build and when the outlet will be delivered.

Documents published on the tendering site BidStats have confirmed that the council intends to build the drive-through branch before the end of this year at a cost of £450,000.

A spokesman said: “The project consists of constructing a new Costa standard format 1,800-sq ft coffee drive-thru unit within the constraints of the existing car park serving a B&Q hardware store.

“It is anticipated that the chosen contractor will be appointed in early-March 2021, who will have a six-week mobilisation period to allow the contractors consultants to produce the substructure and superstructure designs.

“Commencement of the works will therefore start in April and the contract duration will be in the region of six months, planned for the end of September 2021.”

The council purchased the B&Q store on Wirral Park Road in September 2019 for £4.4M, and intends for the new drive-thru outlet to be built at the south-east corner of the site.

Access will be from the existing B&Q car park, and the development will include an outside seating area.

The tendering process closed in mid-December 2020, but the council has not yet publicly announced its preferred contractor.

Councillor John Clark, portfolio holder for economic development, said the purchase had been “rigorously assessed” to get “the best deal for taxpayers”.

Speaking in early-February, he said: “Much of the high street, selling non-essential goods, has been closed for large proportions of the past 12 months.

“We currently consider this sector to represent a significant risk, explaining why there are currently no plans to invest in high street retail to generate income.

“All of our current retail units, however, are considered essential and have remained open throughout the pandemic.

“Similarly, drive-thru coffee units have remained open, while high street units have been closed. This has sped up a trend towards out-of-town drive thru coffee shops.

“In any portfolio, diversification is key to mitigating risk. We consider it prudent to maintain a broad base of commercial property interests, and invests to diversify income on a case-by-case basis.”

Mendip District Council (which makes decisions on planning applications in Glastonbury) is expected to make a ruling on the plans later in the year.