Second Wendy's fast food drive-thru planned for Peterborough

A second Wendy’s fast food drive-thru could open in Peterborough if new plans are approved.

The outlet for the American burger chain is being proposed for the former Frankie & Benny’s unit in Cygnet Park, in Hampton, which closed a year ago.

Franchise operator Blank Table is seeking approval to create a new circulatory road around the unit to enable it to become a drive -thru for a Wendy’s outlet.

Documents with the application that has been submitted to Peterborough City Council state the proposed road would allow vehicles to ‘queue in a clockwise direction around the building, whilst customers place their orders, pay for them, and collect them at different points during their rotation around the building’.

It states that the drive-thru service will allow Wendy’s to ‘maximise’ its output and efficiency and will also appeal to customers who do not wish to go inside the premises.

It adds: “My clients operate the ‘Wendy’s’ franchise, and are looking to take over the former Frankie & Benny’s premises, re-opening it to serve burgers, wraps, salads and drinks, in what will be a revitalised and modernised unit.”

The creation of the new access will mean the loss of five car parking spaces leaving the 155 spaces in total.

The document states: “A minor loss of car parking spaces to facilitate the drive-through access is clearly outweighed by the re-use of this unit in economic terms, especially as there is an abundance of available car parking within Cygnet Park that can absorb this minor loss.

"Customers that use the drive through will not use the car parking area at all, so the minor loss of parking spaces will be acceptable.”

Peterborough’s first Wendy’s drive-thru opened last October at the new Bourges View business park off Maskew Avenue and created 50 jobs.

Carl Morris, managing director of Blank Table, the Wendy’s franchise operator for the East Anglia region, told the Peterborough Telegraph: “We have a growth plan. Blank Table see itself going to 1,000 to 1,500 employees in East Anglia in the next three or four years – so we are going to create a few jobs.

“We will open restaurants in that patch and we are targeting the biggest population areas first.”