Sheffield new McDonald’s ‘drive-thru’ proposal withdrawn from discussion by councillors
A controversial application for a new Sheffield takeaway by fast food giant McDonald’s was withdrawn from discussion by councillors.
A meeting of Sheffield City Council’s planning and highways committee had been due to discuss the proposal for a ‘drive-thru’ restaurant on London Road on Tuesday (July 22).
However, the company, which had faced local opposition to its plans and protests on the site, withdrew the application before it could be considered.
Committee chair Coun Mike Chaplin told councillors: “The McDonald’s application was withdrawn last week and this was against the officer citing four grounds that were material as to why the application should not go ahead.
“I imagine the applicant has decided to go away and either drop it altogether or to rework the application to make it more acceptable, so we’ll see what happens with that in the coming months.”
The proposal was due to be rejected because the site near the junction of Broadfield Road because it lies in an area near schools where young people congregate “and there is evidence that a concentration of similar uses is having an adverse impact on health in the locality”, said the report.
Bland
Sheffield has a public health policy in the draft Local Plan against new fast food outlets opening near schools.
The report also said: “The local planning authority consider that the drive thru’s orientation, design and poor site layout provides poor legibility, and contributes little meaningful vibrancy to the restaurant area or active site frontage along London Road and Broadfield Road, and turns its back on Chippinghouse Road.
“Overall, the building displays bland architecture, which results in a utilitarian appearance, and the layout does not foster a positive contribution to or relationship with the locality.”
The plan was also considered not to provide safe access to the site for pedestrians, cyclists or wheelers on the busy A61 and was thought to cause noise and air quality issues.
Objections had been made by local MP Louise Haigh, Couns Maroof Raouf, Alexi Dimond, Ibby Ullah, Paul Turpin and Nighat Basharat and 270 residents. There were also 28 letters of support for the proposal.