McDonald's has resubmitted plans to build a two-storey restaurant in a Nottinghamshire town after pulling its proposals months ago over safety fears. The restaurant chain requested in October, 2024, for a withdrawal of its plans for a site off Lane End, in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
The plans are being considered by Ashfield District Council, but Nottinghamshire County Council as the highways authority had raised concerns about the previous access plans. The withdrawn plans would have seen drivers entering the restaurant from a road accessed directly opposite the entrance to an Aldi car park.
The new plans will instead see a dedicated access route being created off the main Land End road. Yet the heavy amount of traffic in the area, coupled with the fact that the access remains very close to the Aldi, means some residents have already raised concerns again since the plans were re-submitted on Tuesday, January 7.
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Local resident Colin Smith has submitted an objection saying: "The ALDI junction is already a known pinch point, causing delays and blockages. Placing another busy junction opposite this will create constant gridlock.
"The proposed right-turn filter lane is likely to fail in practice, as vehicles exiting the car park will block this lane, causing further backups both on the main road and within the car park itself. This will worsen traffic flow and increase journey times through the area, impacting both residents and businesses."
Despite the concern, a transport assessment carried out on behalf of McDonald's says: "The proposed site access junction achieves a junction offset of 32m from the ALDI access to the east and 40m to the Millers Way T-junction to the west. The access location is therefore in the optimum location to ensure the maximum possible junction spacing between each access whilst ensuring suitable visibility can be achieved."
The restaurant would feature 36 parking bays and McDonald's says the development would create around 120 new jobs. The company added: "The site currently comprises of cleared brownfield land, having remained vacant since the closure of the engineering works on the site a number of years ago.
"Located on the B6020, it is a main arterial route through the town. The site is within proximity to other businesses and is located directly opposite the train station and a local supermarket.
"McDonald's proposals will regenerate this derelict site and bring it into restaurant use. This is an ideal location for a McDonald’s restaurant and drive-thru, a key gateway location on the edge of Kirkby-in-Ashfield town centre."
The plans will now be considered by Ashfield District Council and a decision is due in early March. It comes after separate plans were submitted in late December 2024 for a new McDonald's in neighbouring Sutton-in-Ashfield, based at the Broad Centre retail park.
