Cllr Chris Bartrum from Herefordshire Council speaks out against McDonald's planning application (26th July 2023)
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00:00 Thank you, Mr. Chairman and fellow councillors
00:02 for this opportunity to speak to you
00:04 regarding this highly controversial application
00:07 for a drive-thru McDonald's on the Ross-on-Wyde bypass.
00:10 I'm also very grateful to those councillors
00:13 who were able to visit the site yesterday
00:16 and see for themselves the very sensitive nature
00:19 of the location and the extremely busy
00:22 over Ross roundabout adjacent to the site.
00:24 I will try not to repeat verbatim
00:27 the issues identified in the planning officer's
00:30 extremely comprehensive report,
00:32 but I do wish to draw to your attention
00:34 four key issues of concern,
00:37 namely health, landscape impact,
00:40 economic impact, and transport.
00:43 With regard to health, I should draw your attention
00:47 to the council public health officer comments
00:50 and formal objection to this proposed McDonald's.
00:53 As you may be aware, childhood obesity in Herefordshire
00:57 is already a concern
00:59 and is at above average levels nationally.
01:02 It is not surprising to note that there is published evidence
01:06 that links fast food outlets
01:08 with higher levels of childhood obesity,
01:11 and yet here is a proposal for a fast food outlet
01:14 very close to the John Kerr High School.
01:16 It would seem to me that this proposal
01:19 is in direct conflict with our council's statutory duty
01:23 to improve the health of the local population,
01:27 and in particular to protect our children's health.
01:30 This would be concrete to paragraph 92
01:32 of the National Planning Policy Framework
01:35 and paragraph four of the Planning Policy Guidance,
01:38 Health and Wellbeing.
01:40 With regard to landscape impact,
01:44 the proposed site is in very close proximity
01:46 to the Wye Valley area of outstanding natural beauty,
01:50 a nationally designated landscape.
01:52 Whilst Natural England have not objected,
01:55 they have not offered an opinion
01:57 with regard to the impact of the proposal on the AONB,
02:01 but has directed the council to be guided
02:03 by paragraphs 176 and 177 of the NPPA,
02:08 which gives the highest status of protection
02:11 for the landscape and scenic beauty of AONBs.
02:15 Views in and out of the AONB are also protected.
02:20 Paragraph 176 states,
02:24 "Development within their setting
02:25 "should be sensitively located
02:27 "and designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts
02:30 "on the designated areas."
02:32 The council's principal landscape officer
02:35 states that this location is an important,
02:38 key gateway on the edge of Ross on Wye and the AONB,
02:42 and that the proposal will lead
02:44 to a major magnitude of change.
02:46 However, the landscape officer then agrees
02:49 with the conclusion of the applicant's
02:51 own landscape assessment
02:53 that due to the adjoining roads
02:55 and other built infrastructure,
02:57 the proposal will not significantly alter
02:59 the approach, view, setting, or character of the AONB.
03:03 Now, I recognise, Mr. Chairman,
03:06 that this is a somewhat subjective issue,
03:08 and beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
03:11 but it is very hard to see how a generic, modular,
03:15 standardised McDonald's building,
03:18 with all the associated signage and lighting,
03:20 operating 18 hours a day,
03:23 could not significantly alter the approach,
03:25 views, setting, or character of the AONB.
03:29 It is also noted that the applicant's
03:32 own landscape assessment has identified
03:34 a major to moderate adverse long-term effect
03:38 for residential receptors, i.e. householders,
03:42 who look directly north onto the site.
03:45 This proposal is therefore in direct conflict
03:47 with our core strategy policies, LD1 and SD1.
03:52 With regard to economic impact,
03:54 the applicants have been required
03:56 to undertake a sequential test
03:58 to assess the potential impact
04:00 of the proposed out-of-town location
04:02 on the town centre.
04:04 The Council's retail consultants
04:07 have not formally objected to this,
04:08 but have made a number of rather worrying observations,
04:12 and I quote from the officer's report,
04:14 "In short, it does not appear to us
04:17 "that sequential test site search requirements
04:19 "have yet been undertaken adequately by the applicants."
04:24 And again, in reference to the applicant's
04:26 somewhat sweeping statement
04:28 that the majority of Ross and White Town Centre
04:30 is inherently inappropriate
04:32 for a drive-through business model,
04:34 the Council's retail consultants states,
04:37 "We are not wholly in agreement with this statement.
04:40 "We accept the commercial advantages
04:42 "of the application site adjacent to the A49,
04:45 "but do not consider that this automatically
04:48 "rules out any of the town centre.
04:51 "By way of example, the large Morrisons food store
04:55 "attracts much of its trade from outside the town centre,
04:58 "but is able to trade with it viably from the town centre.
05:02 "It would seem to me that the applicant's sequential test
05:05 "has not demonstrated that the proposed
05:07 "out-of-town drive-through McDonald's
05:09 "would not have a significant impact
05:12 "on the vitality and viability of Ross Town Centre.
05:15 "As required by our core strategy policies E5 and RW1."
05:20 In addition, the Ross and White Neighbourhood Development Plan
05:24 2021 Policy E2 states,
05:28 "Further out of centre and out,
05:30 "edge of centre and out of centre retail development,
05:34 "especially large scale, will normally be resisted."
05:37 Somewhat surprisingly, the Council's retail consultants
05:40 have stated that it appears to them
05:42 that this policy does not apply
05:44 to a fast food drive-through outlet.
05:47 With regard to transport impacts,
05:50 the applicant's transport assessment,
05:52 and indeed the whole premise of its calculations,
05:55 still relies on their 2019 traffic survey.
06:00 Despite the Council's highway engineer stating in her report
06:04 that a further traffic survey has been undertaken,
06:07 the applicant's latest letter,
06:08 dated the 7th of February, 2023,
06:11 confirms that no new traffic surveys
06:14 have been carried out, and states,
06:16 "The traffic surveys conducted pre-COVID in September 2019
06:21 "are a very robust basis for the transport assessment.
06:26 "The extract from the DFT website below
06:29 "demonstrates that traffic flows are still likely 5% lower
06:33 "than they were at the end of 2019.
06:36 "The DFT website mentioned provides statistics
06:40 "based on provisional road traffic estimates
06:43 "and not actual survey figures.
06:47 "However, the adjacent St. Mary's Garden Village residents
06:50 "commissioned PCC Traffic Information Consultants Limited
06:55 "to carry out a physical traffic count in September 2022.
06:59 "This revealed that actual traffic volumes
07:02 "are up to 30% higher than the volume
07:05 "submitted by the applicants,
07:07 "and 10% higher than the model figures.
07:11 "When you add in McDonald's own prediction
07:13 "that it will be able to handle
07:15 "approximately 1 million vehicles per year,
07:20 "it is clear that the local road network,
07:22 "and in particular, the Over Ross roundabout,
07:25 "will be unable to cope with the traffic arising
07:28 "and will be beyond capacity.
07:31 "It is clear on this basis that this proposal
07:33 "is contrary to the core strategy policies, SS4 and MT1.
07:38 "In summary, Mr. Chairman, it's self-evident
07:41 "that fast food drive-through should be resisted,
07:44 "on the grounds of health, landscape impact,
07:47 "economic impact, and transport.
07:50 "The specific reasons for refusal should include,
07:53 "but not be limited to, paragraphs 92, 176, and 177,
07:58 "or the NPPF, paragraph four of the PPG,
08:02 "Health and Wellbeing, core strategy policies,
08:05 "LD1, SD1, E5, RW1, SS4, MT1, MT2, and MT3.
08:11 "And finally, the paragraph four of the PPG,
08:14 "SS4, MT1, and Ross NDP policy, E2.
08:19 "I very much hope that my fellow councillors will agree
08:22 "that Ross on Y, and indeed, Heritage as a whole,
08:27 "deserves better than this,