Exciting $1.35m drive-through coffee shop approved

The shop will be operated by well known Rockhampton business owners.

Cocobrew Express, Rockhampton's first architecturally designed drive-through coffee shop, has been approved to be built on a main highway corner site.

The $1.35m development will be located on the corner of George and Albert St, across from Browne Park.

It is a project of well-known Rockhampton developer John Kele of Kele Property Group.

The leasees of Cocobrew, which KPG developed in 2019, will operate the site.

The site, 40-44 Albert St, currently has three dilapidated houses which will be removed for the development.

The drive-through coffee shop has order and pick up windows. Renders by Design + Architecture.

The project has included Rockhampton business with design from Design + Architecture, town planning from Gideon Town Planning and it will be built by Hutchinson Builders.

The business will operate from 5am to 3pm, seven days a week.

The development will have a gross floor area of 49 sqm and will have order and pick-up windows, a general preparation area, and storage and amenities.

There is no physical dining proposed.

There would be an entry and exit access from George St, entry from George Ln and exit onto Albert St.

The development will also have two advertising signs.

The drive-through coffee shop is expected to capture traffic from the highway and those going to the Rockhampton Base Hospital and surrounding schools.

It is the first architecturally designed drive-through coffee shop in Rockhampton. Renders by Design + Architecture.

The first project of its kind for KPG, the developers have noticed the increasing popularity of coffee drive-throughs in Australia and are looking to develop more of the same design throughout Central Queensland.

The development application was submitted in November to Rockhampton Regional Council and it was approved at a council meeting this week.

The application presented at the council meeting cited various measures which have been included in the development plans.

A number of concerns were raised during the public notification period, all of which were appropriately answered or had measures in place.

A 1.8m acoustic fence, landscaping and screening will act as an appropriate noise mitigation measures.

It is noted vehicular noise to the nearby adjoining properties is minimal.

Approval conditions prohibit delivery and waste collection vehicles from entering or exiting the site prior to 7am Monday to Saturdays and prior to 8am on Sundays.

Cocobrew Express will operate seven days a week, from 5am to 3pm. Renders by Design + Architecture.

The queuing space has been designed to be located as far away as possible from the adjoining residential allotment.

There are also approval conditions related to smoke and noise from queued vehicles and the development must not cause an "environmental nuisance".

Council reserves the right to undertake nuisance monitoring if a genuine complaint of noise or odour is made.

Concerns of the development overlooking into nearby residential properties were also raised and it was answered that the building would be low-rise with a maximum height of 7.6 metres to the top eave.

The development has now been approved with conditions.

Originally published as