INCREASED noise, light and risk of crime are just some of the objections being levelled against a fast-food restaurant hoping to offer 24-hour service.
An application for a new premises licence at the drive-thru McDonald’s, on Oxford Road, in New Denham, is being challenged over its impact on neighbours.
The restaurant has been at this location since 2001 and because it closes at 11pm a ‘Late Night Refreshment’ premises licence has previously not been necessary.
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However, the applicant, APPT Corporation Limited, seeks to alter service to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a drive-thru-only service commencing at 11pm.
Two objections were received during a 28-day consultation which ended on December 24.
One objector fears noise and light impacting their property. They also fear the restaurant becoming a ‘meeting point for undesirables at night’, fighting, and increased risk of burglary.
“The evidence I give for this is a group of non-local undesirables congregated at a local 24/7 establishment and used the McDonald’s car park to access and attempt a burglary on my property,” they said.
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The other objector, who ‘works for the NHS’, also fears noise from vehicles and people late at night. “The thought of extending…to 24hrs is unimaginable in a residential area and it would certainly not be local people that would be using such a service,” they said.
It is understood the change in hours will create 25 additional jobs.
The applicant said the restaurant will have motion-activated CCTV, panic buttons, and measures – such as self-closing doors and signage – to limit noise.
Additional measures offered to objectors include hourly patrols of the car park after 11pm, dimmed lighting, and direct phone numbers for staff.
The matter will be discussed during a licensing sub-committee hearing, on Tuesday, January 26.
Images courtesy of PA.
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