A WINCHESTER City councillor has submitted a public objection to the plans for the city's first first drive-thru Mcdonald's.

Cllr Sue Cook, who represents Colden Common and Twyford, is standing in the upcoming council elections.

The plan is for the new restaurant to be part of the Tesco car park, in Easton Lane.

Cllr Cook cited reasons such as increasing traffic and anti-social behaviour in her objection, and called for the city council to hear the application at a planning committee.

Cllr Cook, of Hewlett Close, Twyford, said: “As a Winchester City Councillor I wish for this application to be heard and decided upon by the Winchester planning committee.

“This application would have an adverse effect on the residential area that is nearby and it would also add to the congested Winnall Estate and the nearby junction that has daily traffic issues.

“Sadly this theme of drive thru is known for its Anti-social behaviour that it attracts and with the nearby Car Park that looks to lose 80 plus car parking spaces is a recipe for disaster.

“Any motorist that travels on a day to day basis would surely not miss the unkept Tesco car park and the surrounding junction on the Winnall approach plus the verges and this drive thru would add to the vast amounts of litter that is discarded by regular users of the area.”

Another public objection, from John Arthur, of Western Road, said: “It ignores planning guidance by failing to properly consider cyclists.

“The application 'namechecks' cycling by mentioning the proximity of Sustrans Route NCN 23 but does virtually nothing to facilitate the use of the restaurant by cyclists or to encourage people to visit by bike rather than by car.”

READ MORE: New McDonald's could be coming to Winchester for city's first drive-thru

On its planning statement, it said: “The restaurant shall maintain a strict protocol for ensuring noise and disturbance is kept to a minimum. All shift managers shall receive conflict resolution training sufficient to ensure they can deal effectively with noise or anti-social behaviour.

“There are no allocated sites in the centre for a drive thru restaurant, and no suitable sites. McDonald’s have explored the city centre a number of times over recent years and nothing is suitable or available. Much of the retail core is pedestrianised, with other areas being one way, restricting passing traffic.”

The planning application is available to view on Winchester City Council's planning website. The code for the building is 22/00230/FUL.

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