Mcdonald’s Refuses to Provide Further Information for Wrexham Drive-Thru Site

FAST food giants McDonald’s have refused to provide further information to ease councillors’ fears over plans for a new a drive-thru restaurant in Wrexham.
A decision on proposals to create a new branch of the burger chain on the Plas Coch Retail Park was placed on hold by politicians at a meeting in May.
It followed concerns being raised by Wrexham Council’s planning committee about the impact the scheme would have on traffic and road safety.
The two-storey development, which McDonald’s said would create more than 120 jobs, is proposed to be built on part of a car park which serves The Range and Farmfoods.
The application was previously recommended for approval by a senior planning official but deferred by councillors to seek extra details from the firm about the impact on traffic.
The plans are now due to go back before the committee next week, with a report showing that McDonald’s has chosen not to provide more information on transport arrangements.
David Fitzsimon, Wrexham’s chief planning officer, said he was satisfied with measures proposed to address highways issues, including a new pedestrian crossing and a safety barrier.
In a report backing the scheme to go ahead, he said: “This application was first reported to the planning committee on May 7, 2024.
“Members deferred the application, considering further information was required in respect of the transport assessment.
“The applicant has declined to carry out further transport assessments. They consider the assessments already undertaken to be robust.
“They also point out that that the transport assessments have been reviewed by the council’s highway officers, the Welsh Government and Planning and Environment Decisions Wales.”
He added: “The development would not have an unacceptable impact upon the capacity or safety of the local highway network or give rise to parking problems within the Plas Coch Retail Park.
“The highway officer has also confirmed they have no further comments to make in light of the applicant’s submissions in response to the deferral of the application.”
A previous bid by McDonald’s to build a restaurant on the same site was refused by councillors in June 2021, with an appeal later rejected by a planning inspector due to the impact on phosphate pollution levels in rivers.
The company resubmitted its proposals last spring after upgrades were carried out at the Five Fords wastewater treatment works, creating extra capacity to remove contaminants.
Local councillor Marc Jones told May’s planning meeting that traffic on the retail park had grown worse since the original application after M&S opened a foodhall there in December.
A total of 88 representations were also received in support of the scheme, highlighting the jobs and investment it would create.
The proposals will be considered again at the planning committee’s next meeting on Monday (July 22, 2024).

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter