Sheffield Green Party organised a protest yesterday at the site of a proposed 24 hour drive-through MacDonald’s, on London Road. Despite the previous planning application being turned down, McDonald’s have resubmitted an almost identical application without addressing any of the concerns of local residents.
The protest was attended by Councillors, including Green Party Councillors Alexi Dimond, Douglas Johnson and Maroof Raouf, and Labour Councillor Ibby Ullah, and was supported by local residents, Cooperation Sheffield and Extinction Rebellion.
Cllr Alexi Dimond said “It shows what contempt MacDonald’s has for the people of Sheffield and the people of our area. After the huge protest and the 300 objections that were put in, including all the local Councillors, the Planning Officers recommended that the Application be refused. MacDonalds then withdrew its application. And now they’ve brought it back, but they haven’t changed anything. They haven’t addressed any of the concerns or objections and of course they actually can’t. Because they can’t move the school, they can’t change how much traffic we already have here, they can’t change the environmental impact that their business model has, they are wedded to their never ending profits and destruction of the planet. So that’s why we’ve got to be here again, we’ve got to get as many objections, and please get them in today if you can, but they will still be accepted afterwards. We just need to ensure that the Councillors on the Planning Committee see as many objections as possible so that they can not possibly approve this rediculous new MacDonalds.”
In his objection Cllr Dimond wrote
“This site is extremely close to Lowfield School (0.1 miles) and within walking
distance of several other primary schools (Anns Grove, 0.3 miles; Sharrow School,
0.4 miles).
It is also within walking distance of the Umix centre, Lowfield Park, Mount
Pleasant Park, Sharrow Adventure Playground, Heeley People’s Park, Heeley City
Farm and Medina Masjid – all places where children and young people frequent and
congregate.
The visibility of a McDonald’s, and associated advertising on school routes will
attract children and young people and contribute to rising levels of obesity, and is
contrary to Sheffield City Council’s Eat Well Sheffield Campaign.
There will be increased litter in the area due to the disposable packaging
generated by McDonald’s takeaways. Air pollution will increase due to increased
vehicle numbers and congestion.
There is likely to be associated anti-social behaviour (ASB) as people are attracted
to the 24 hour drive thru, in an area where there are already some issues with ASB,
and in the context of a new city-centre PSPO displacing people from the city
centre.”
He then goes on to explain how the application is contrary to the City Goals, is bad for Public Health and will impact on existing local businesses.
Further Reading
What’s wrong with MacDonalds?
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