Representation by McDonald's Restaurants Limited (McDonald's Restaurants Limited)
- Date submitted
- 5 August 2019
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
McDonald’s Real Estate LLP (“McDonald’s”) owns the freehold site at Kingsway, Derby DE22 4AA, registered at the Land Registry under title DY220642 (the “Property”). McDonald’s Restaurants Limited has a leasehold interest in the site registered at the Land Registry under title DY427008. McDonald’s and McDonald’s Restaurants Limited are interested parties to this application as the accessway to the Property from the A38 will be closed as part of the scheme (the “Works”), which will have a significant impact on the operation of the restaurant as outlined below. The basis on which McDonald’s opposes the Works are as follows: 1. Access and congestion a) The Works involve closing the entrance to the Property from the A38. This would cause increased queuing at the Ashbourne Road entrance and exit to the Property, posing a health and safety risk to road users, as well as negatively impacting McDonald’s business, brand, sales, operations and the amenity of the local area for residents (in each case during and after the works). Additionally, the increased capacity at the Ashbourne Road junction will go beyond its capability. b) The proposed installation of traffic lights at the Ashbourne Road junction will cause gridlock and queuing inside the McDonald’s site, especially around the access and egress to the Drive-Thru lanes. c) The site traffic survey undertaken in 2015/16, which formed the assessment of the Works, is outdated and guest numbers to the Property have subsequently risen. The assessment of the impact does not account for this increase; the Works and increased site traffic will exacerbate already existing congestion. 2. Delivery Issues a) Currently, deliveries to the Property are received 5 times per week from the A38 entrance. The Works necessitate a change in delivery routes into the restaurant. The proposed route does not account for how McDonald’s delivery vehicles manoeuvre around the Property or potential health and safety concerns. Delivery cages weigh hundreds of kilograms and McDonald’s’ car park is reinforced in the south part only. By closing the A38 entrance, delivery vehicles will no longer be able to service the Property; they are too heavy to safely cross the unreinforced north section of the Property. b) Servicing via Enfield Road (if this remains open) is not appropriate since it is unsafe for heavy trolleys to pass across a non-flat route. There are also practical concerns relating to the safe operation of large commercial vehicles. c) A new route for waste collection has been proposed which is likely to inconvenience local residents and therefore strain their neighbourly relationship with McDonald’s. d) McDonald’s does not have rights to cross over the adjoining EuroGarages site. The Works rely on McDonald’s taking deliveries by crossing over land which it neither owns nor has rights over; this is problematic and allows an adjoining landowner to control the viability of the restaurant . 3. Encroachment It appears as though the Works at the junction between the Property and Ashbourne Road encroach onto the Property.