KEY POINTS:
Fastfood giant McDonald's is pressing on with plans for a 24-hour drive-through restaurant at a busy intersection in Balmoral, despite opposition from residents and calls for a rethink by local politicians.
The proposed 159-seat restaurant about 30m west of the intersection of Dominion and Balmoral Rds has attracted
844 submissions, the vast majority of which are identical and opposed to the development.
The three City Vision councillors in the Eden-Albert ward, Glenda Fryer, Cathy Casey and Neil Abel, are supporting community opposition and calling on McDonald's to halt the development in a "quiet residential area like Balmoral".
McDonald's development group head Chris Leslie yesterday said the company could not say what it could do to address local concerns until it had read the submissions.
"We think we have got something to offer to that community. We think the majority of our sales will come from local residents."
The restaurant would also provide local jobs, Mr Leslie said.
The development has galvanised local opposition. Two public meetings have been held and a residents' group formed.
Three schools are within 500m of the site, The Auckland Regional Public Health Service, which aims to improve nutrition through resource-consent processes, is among the opponents.
One of the most contentious issues is the volume of traffic the restaurant will generate at one of the city's busiest intersections.
McDonald's expects some 1900 vehicles a day on "its busiest day".
In a letter to the Herald last week, country manager Mark Hawthorne said this would mean an additional 1200 vehicles visiting the area because about 35 per cent of customers were already driving past the McDonald's restaurants they visited.
Mr Hawthorne said that on its least busy day, the restaurant was expected to attract 60 per cent less traffic than the busiest day - about 720 additional cars to the area.
Nathan Inkpen, 39, who lives on Wiremu St with his wife and two children, aged 7 and 3, said a third of the drive-through traffic was expected between midnight and 8am.
"This level of traffic and at these anti-social hours will destroy the neighbourhood," he said.
A council spokeswoman said the appointment of planning commissioners and a date for hearings had still to be decided. The three councillors have given up their right to sit as planning commissioners by coming out against the restaurant.
THE PLAN
* How big: 159-seat McDonald's restaurant in Balmoral.
* 24-hour drive-through.
* 63 carparks on site.
* About 1900 vehicles on peak days.
