A GLOBAL coffee giant has brewed up plans to open in Greenock and generate around 30 new jobs.

Bosses at Starbucks have applied for permission to build a £1m drive-through coffee shop on land at Cartsdyke Avenue just beside the RBS mortgage centre.

It would employ 20 to 30 staff, with around half the workforce full time.

A supporting statement from the company, submitted to Inverclyde Council, says: “The development will represent an investment in excess of £1m by Starbucks, and the proposed works will deliver infrastructure by way of access roads and service connections that can be utilised by the remaining adjacent parcels of land, thus acting as a catalyst for wider investment by making these other land parcels viable and more attractive for business and industrial development than they currently are. 

“The development of a Starbucks in this location will introduce an attractive modern facility that will support both existing and future businesses, as well as tourists and local residents, by providing a comfortable and accessible meeting space with wifi connections.”

Company chiefs say the drive-through would breathe new life back into an empty brownfield area of land.

Their statement continues: “The application is for the development of a brownfield site that has been vacant for some considerable period of time. 

“The site is within the former Inverclyde Enterprise Zone area, and it is understood that it was reserved for some years for extension and/or additional car parking for what is now the RBS office to the north.

“The land was declared as being surplus to requirements by RBS and has then been marketed by multiple parties over a period of at least five years for business and industrial development, but with no interest and/or offers being received for these uses.”

The application for the new drive-through, which would have outdoor seating, is now being considered by council planning officials.