Cessnock City Council has deferred making a decision on a development application for a new McDonald's restaurant in Vincent Street.
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Council staff recommended the application for approval at Wednesday night's meeting, but councillors sought further discussion with the applicant regarding the building location and traffic management on the site, and the impacts on local residents.
The restaurant is proposed to be built on the former Eaton's Mitre 10 site at 217-219 Vincent Street, with vehicular access via Charlton and Snape streets. It would be open to the public from 5am to midnight, with a 24-hour drive-through facility that would be subject to a 12-month trial if approved.
Charlton Street property owner Rosemary Buddery spoke against the recommendation, raising her concerns about noise and traffic.
"My property is the closest sensitive receiver, and if there's traffic coming through the drive-through 24 hours, especially during the night, I can't see how there won't be any sleep disturbance to any tenants there," she said.
"There will be problems from the lights from vehicles as well, but that can be fixed with blinds.
"But the traffic noise is what I'm worried about within the street, and I think we need to get an answer to that before this is put through.
"If it does go through that the 24-hour drive-through is open during sleeping hours right opposite my property... then I think something needs to be done to sound-proof my property.
"You need to resolve the traffic issues as well, because it's a terribly dangerous turn into Snape Street."
Yannis Comino from SLR Consulting answered councillors' questions on behalf of McDonald's.
When asked by Cr Ian Olsen if there was a "genuine need" for two McDonald's restaurants in Cessnock (with the Allandale Road restaurant - a 1.3km drive away - to remain open), Mr Comino said there is a "really high demand in the area".
"Part of the reason for a second McDonald's is diluting that demand to be shared across the two stores," he said.
Cr Mitchell Hill and mayor Jay Suvaal both questioned the capacity of the drive-through facility, with concerns about overflow traffic blocking Charlton and Snape streets.
Mr Comino said the drive-through accommodates 14 vehicles - two more than the maximum required for that level of development - and again pointed to the "dilution of demand" that would result from having two McDonalds in Cessnock, and the option for drivers to go in-store if the queue is too long.
"The idea for a drive-through is for efficiency's sake - no-one wants to be waiting in a drive-through for a long period of time. So if there's an opportunity there to be able to go in store as well, we see that driver behaviour lends it to that," he said.
Cr Suvaal asked if there was any consideration given to amending the site floor plan and traffic management to allow traffic to be contained within the property, such as KFC has done with its new restaurant on Wollombi Road.
Mr Comino said the site has been endorsed and recommended for approval by Transport for NSW as well as council's engineers.
Regarding noise concerns, Mr Comino said McDonald's would be willing to engage with residents on sound mitigation measures.
IN THE NEWS:
Krystal Sellars
Krystal Sellars is the Senior Journalist at the Cessnock Advertiser. Born and raised in Cessnock, she started her journalism career at the Advertiser in 2006 after completing a Bachelor of Communication at the University of Newcastle. Contact her on krystal.sellars@cessnockadvertiser.com.au.
Krystal Sellars is the Senior Journalist at the Cessnock Advertiser. Born and raised in Cessnock, she started her journalism career at the Advertiser in 2006 after completing a Bachelor of Communication at the University of Newcastle. Contact her on krystal.sellars@cessnockadvertiser.com.au.
