Date set for McDonald's licensing hearing

Plans to allow McDonald's at Newbury Retail Park to open 24/7 will be discussed on Wednesday, March 9

THE date has now been set for a licensing hearing into plans to allow McDonald's at Newbury Retail Park to open 24/7.

The fast food chain recently submitted plans to open for 24 hours a day during the week, in addition to its existing permission to open around the clock at weekends (Fridays and Saturdays), which was granted in 2009.

However, local residents and councillors have reacted angrily to the plans and Greenham Parish Council has strongly objected to the plans due to the levels of anti-social behaviour and noise in the area late at night.

Parish councillor Alan Agutter, who lives opposite the retail park, said the long-standing problems of ‘boy racers' still existed, adding that McDonald's had done nothing to help curtail the problem.

District councillor Julian Swift-Hook (Lib Dem, Greenham), added that in his opinion, extending the night-time opening hours would simply make the area an even bigger magnet for problems of anti-social behaviour and drug taking.

However, Newbury town councillors recently raised no objections to the plans, which are now set to be discussed at a licensing hearing at 2pm on Wednesday, March 9 at the West Berkshire Council offices in Market Street, Newbury.