McDonald's: Drive-thru set to open near Sheffield after strong local support
A McDonald’s drive thru is set to open in Dinnington creating 100 jobs.
The fast food giant will build a restaurant on Campbell Way after being given the green light.
A spokesperson for the firm said it would create 100 jobs.
The franchisee, Franco Ventura, told a planning meeting at Rotherham Council: “I’m a local person, I live in Ravenfield, I was born in Rotherham. I had a great career in McDonald’s, I became part of the executive team…and became a francisee back in Rotherham in 2017.”
He added that he currently employs more than 1,000 across nine restaurants, and sponsors 13 under-11 football teams, the Rotherham Titans Foundation, undertakes litter picks and work with local charities.
The proposal had met with resistance from planning offiicals over the quality of the jobs.
But Coun Joanna Baker-Rogers said she had received emails supporting the plans, and that councillors on the planning board should reflect the will of residents. The idea was popular with locals, some 139 letters supporting the plans were submitted to RMBC, along with 11 objections.
Annie Newman, senior acquisitions surveyor at McDonald’s, said: “We have wanted to expand our offering of amazing value and high-quality food in Dinnington for some time.
“We appreciate that the council’s policy allocates this land for employment use, but the number of jobs that our proposals will create is far more than many developments that would be defined as employment use."
Emma Gonstall, associate director of Lichfield Planning Consultancy, said the site, once part of Dinnington Colliery, had been vacant since the 90s, and needs ‘over £400,000 of remediation works’.