McDonald's denied earlier opening for fourth time

Permission for a McDonald's in Cambridge to open an hour earlier has been refused for the fourth time.

An application proposing a 06:00 opening time for the fast-food restaurant in Newmarket Road was submitted to Cambridge City Council.

Previous applications had been refused over concerns about noise and light.

Richard Cross, who runs the restaurant, told councillors at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday that a number of measures had been proposed to reduce the impact of the earlier opening.

The McDonald's operates from 07:00 to 23:00 seven days a week.

The latest proposal was objected to by 10 people living nearby, with one saying that customers sat outside of homes with music "often loud enough for it to disturb" residents.

Another person raised concerns about the road being more congested and said: "There is also a great deal of rubbish that gets dumped on the side of the road and blows into our driveway."

Cross said measures had been proposed, including the installation of a fence around the boundary.

He said the additional opening hour would help to "create and protect" jobs.

"We have considered carefully how to mitigate the impacts on neighbours, I believe the steps outlined clearly demonstrate this," he said.

Elliot Tong, Green councillor at the authority, said the site was in a very busy residential area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Tong, who is a ward councillor for the area, said current restrictions helped to "mitigate some downsides" and argued the earlier opening would push "noise disruption into the early hours of the morning".

Ingrid Flaubert, Liberal Democrat councillor, said the city council had a "duty to help youngsters to find a job" but was concerned about the impact the earlier opening time would have on noise.

The application was refused unanimously by council members.

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