An application has been made to extend the opening hours of the McDonald’s in Newmarket Road, Cambridge, by one hour in the morning.
Concerns have been raised about allowing the McDonald’s in Newmarket Road to open from an hour early in the morning.(Image: Google)
Neighbours have shared fears that they will face more noise and litter issues if the McDonald’s in Newmarket Road, Cambridge, is allowed to open for longer. The restaurant has asked Cambridge City Council for permission to extend its opening hours.
Currently the restaurant can open from 7am to 11pm seven days a week. The application submitted to the city council proposes to extend this in the morning by one hour, to allow the business to open from 6am.
A report published by the city council said this is the fourth time the restaurant had asked to extend its opening hours. Each previous application has been refused due to concerns about noise, light spill impact, and nuisance to neighbours.
A cover letter, written on behalf of McDonald’s, said the extra hour is needed in the morning to “ensure that the restaurant is better able to meet the demands of its established customer base and enhance its overall efficiency”.
The letter added that the proposed extension of opening hours is “not considered to result in any unacceptable impact on the existing levels of residential amenity”. The letter also highlighted that the neighbouring Papa Johns restaurant is open until 3am.
It said: “This application simply seeks to extend the trading hours by an additional hour from that which is currently approved. We therefore anticipate that the proposal is entirely acceptable in terms of the extra hour operation in the early morning trading period as no complaints have been received.
“Based on experiences of other restaurants within the group, the bulk of the custom during the early morning hours will be drawn from passing trade rather than drawing people into the area. On that basis, we don’t consider that the proposal will result in a noticeable increase in noise [from] associated movements.
“It follows that the proposed extension to opening hours is unlikely to cause an unacceptable impact on amenity levels as a result of an increase in people, noise, and/or disturbance.”
The letter added that the longer opening hours would also see more roles created at the restaurant and additional working hours for existing staff, which it said would be a benefit for the area.
‘Extension will increase harm to intolerable level’
A total of 10 objections have been formally lodged against the application by people living nearby, who raised concerns about the impact the extra opening hour could have.
One person said: “As a very local resident living opposite the restaurant I can assure you that 7am to 11pm is way long enough for the amount of noise, litter and smell disturbance we have to endure on a daily basis 351 days of the year. I have filled out many log sheets over the years when the noise and vile smell of cooking fat is overpowering.
“I also have to call and email the restaurant on a regular basis to ask them to collect litter or complain about the barrier being left open after closing hours. Everyday without fail we have customers sitting outside our homes, engines running, music/radio often on loud enough for it to disturb us.”
Another objector also highlighted issues they said they are currently facing in the area and raised concerns the longer opening hours would make this worse. They said: “The road is already incredibly busy and noisy and if the opening hours are extended, this will only get worse.
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“We have a young family and have to put up with lots of McDonald’s related traffic, particularly on the roundabout when we are trying to navigate on our bicycles.
“There is also a great deal of rubbish that gets dumped on the side of the road and blows into our driveway; this will only get worse if the opening hours are extended. This restaurant is not welcome in our residential area full stop, let alone it having extended opening hours.”
Concerns were also raised by Councillor Naomi Bennett, who said the restaurant is already ‘exposing’ families in the area to “fumes, noise and antisocial behaviour”. Cllr Bennett argued the restaurant “already causes significant harm” and claimed that allowing it to extend its opening hours by one hour in the morning would “increase that harm to an intolerable level”.
The application is due to be considered by councillors at a planning committee meeting next week (January 7). Planning officers have recommended that the application should be refused due to concerns about the noise levels and the potential harm from artificial lighting on neighbours’ quality of life.
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