The planning committee were not Lovin’ It
Plans for a new drive-thru McDonald’s off Hedon Road have been refused by Hull City Council. Councillors voted against the application at a meeting of the planning committee held on Wednesday, January 7.
The American fast-food giant had hoped to construct its latest Hull restaurant on an area of vacant grassland on the South West corner of Marfleet Roundabout. Councillors voted against the plans, 9 votes to 2, citing the proximity to a local school.
The application, which was recommended for conditional approval subject to a legal agreement, was discussed by the planning committee after having been ‘called in’ by Cllr Patrick Wilkinson. The Labour Party councillor, who represents the Marfleet ward, spoke at the meeting in opposition to the plans.
“I’m objecting to this mostly on highways grounds,” Cllr Wilkinson told the committee. He added: “I’ve been working with National Highways on this for around 15/16 months and I have argued throughout that I believe that this site will be busier than the models are suggesting, for several reasons.”
Cllr Wilkinson argued that “not enough consideration” had been given to how many people from the surrounding town and villages would come to the restaurant. He claimed the developers “did not survey the East Riding. They surveyed Marfleet and Greatfield and those areas around it”, adding “I think this will be considerably busier than suggested.”
However, the committee was told by an officer that National Highways have no objections to the impact of the plans on Hedon Road or the Marfleet Roundabout. The officer added: “As far as we’re concerned there are no highway objections at all and we’re happy with the impact of the development.”
Councillors in opposition to the plans were initially drawn to the council’s Local Plan which seeks to prevent hot food takeaways being located within 400 metres of a secondary school / sixth form college. The committee were soon directed towards Paragraph 97 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which the chair of the planning committee, Cllr Diana Hatcher, explained to councillors “trumps” the council’s own Local Plan.
The NPPF states: “Local planning authorities should refuse applications for hot food takeaways and fast-food outlets within walking distance of schools and other places where children and young people congregate, unless the location is within a designated town centre.” This, as the committee were told, applies to all schools, including Primary Schools, which was of particular relevance as the nearby school is Marfleet Primary School.
Cllr Ted Dolman said he was “lost” as to “why we would go against the NPPF.” He added: “I’m not sure what the argument against that is.”
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