McDonald’s has revealed a first look at what its proposed restaurant in Ellon will look like if the fast food chain’s plans come to fruition.
Plans for a new restaurant and drive-thru in the Aberdeenshire town were announced by the firm last week.
It would be based on a 0.18 hectares site on Castle Road in the east of Ellon, just over a mile from the town centre, near the A90 Aberdeen to Peterhead road and Tesco supermarket.
The site borders Balmacassie Brae, Balmacassie Commercial Park and Castle Road, and is described by McDonald’s as “greenfield in nature”.
‘Ideal location’ for Ellon McDonald’s
In its online consultation, which went live yesterday, McDonald’s said the site is in an “ideal location” and benefits from safe and easy access from the A90 road.
Plans for the restaurant, which would be 251sqm, include indoor and outdoor seating for customers, 19 car parking spaces, including two accessible and two reserve spaces, as well as additional ones for bikes.
Despite having four other franchises across Aberdeenshire, McDonald’s said they have “long held an aspiration” to open a restaurant in Ellon and that if approved it would help to “enhance affordable food choices locally”.
The burger chain says the store would create 100 full and part-time jobs and bring in an estimated £4 million to the local area.
An issue of contention when previous fast food restaurants moved into a new location has been how they will affect the environment with litter issues, however, McDonald’s say the Ellon restaurant would be “attractive and sustainable”.
In the online consultation, the firm said that they would be a “sensitive” neighbour and take their responsibilities to do this “seriously”.
To achieve this and ensure that local residents are not adversely impacted, McDonald’s said they would introduce:
- Appropriate control measures to be incorporated into ventilation systems to limit cooking odours.
- A sensitive lighting scheme to limit lighting beyond the site.
- A minimum of three daily litter picks to collect all litter in the vicinity of the restaurant, not just McDonald’s packaging.
In terms of roads and access, it is proposed that vehicles would access the restaurant and drive-thru via the existing Balmacassie Brae, while pedestrian access is proposed to connect to the existing footway on the street.
Impact on Ellon roads examined
Within the site, safe pedestrian routes would be provided by paved footways and marked crossing facilities, while there would also be access for cyclists via the main site access.
McDonald’s confirmed in the online consultation that a transport statement will be submitted as part of the planning application, which will consider the anticipated impacts of the development on local roads, along with any mitigation required.
However, according to studies that have already been undertaken “the scheme is not expected to have a significant impact” on local roads.
An in person public consultation was due to be held at the New Inn Hotel in Ellon yesterday, but this was postponed, with the firm saying that they hope to reschedule it “shortly”.
However, members of the public have until March 29 to submit their views on the proposals on the online consultation HERE.
Conversation