A FORMER local councillor has launched a blistering attack on East Lothian Council planners for recommending approval of a McDonald’s drive-thru in Musselburgh.

In a letter to the Courier, Fraser McAllister hit out at their “illogical” recommendation which, if approved by councillors at an online meeting next week, would grant permission for a restaurant to be created in the car park of the Tesco store off Olivebank Road.

He claimed that the drive-thru, which would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, would be “next to the most congested roundabout in the county”.

The former SNP councillor for Musselburgh West said: “Tragically, 200 local objectors and 1,300 petitioners have less value than the share value of these gigantic corporations.”

He called on councillors on the planning committee, which will debate the proposal on Tuesday, to halt the “betrayal”.

Mr McAllister also lodged a formal objection, citing a range of concerns including traffic congestion, pollution, litter, obesity, residential amenity and economic damage.

He claimed: “The custom predicted for this 24-hour McDonald’s drive-thru and the intensity of the declared deliveries needed to service it are on an industrial scale. The impact on Olivebank Road would be truly calamitous.”

The plan will go before a ‘virtual’ meeting of the planning committee after being called off the delegated list by ward councillor Stuart Currie because of the level of local concern.

He said: “I have called this application off the list to ensure that all the concerns raised by local residents are discussed and elected members can understand not only the strength of feeling but also the planning issues that exist as a result of this application.”

Musselburgh & Inveresk Community Council has lodged an objection, citing traffic congestion, emissions, and the facility’s close proximity to local schools as concerns.

A public campaign ‘No McDonald’s in Musselburgh’ was also launched in a bid to halt the plan, highlighting concerns such as increased traffic congestion, litter and air pollution.

The planning report stated that there were 160 written representations to the application and, of these, 157 were objections.

It said: “The council’s road services advise they accept the conclusions of the traffic network modelling exercise, that the traffic impact associated with the proposed development would be minimal and there would be no adverse impact on the operation of the local highway network.

“Many written objections are made on the grounds of the proximity of the proposed drive-thru restaurant to Musselburgh Grammar School, and that such a facility promotes unhealthy eating and thus would lead to harmful health consequences.

“The East Lothian Local Development Plan 2018 does not contain any policies restricting the location of drive-thru restaurant facilities to a certain distance from schools, or any other educational establishments. Nor does it contain any policies relating to unhealthy eating or the health consequences of proposed developments. Thus, and in the absence of national guidance on health consequences of proposed developments, no significant weight can be given to these matters.”

The report added: “On the matter of air quality, the public health and environmental protection officer advised that the proposed development was anticipated to result in up to 541 customer vehicles visiting the premises daily, which was a significant number of additional vehicles given the proximity of site to the Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) on Musselburgh High Street.”

The officer agreed with the conclusion of McDonald’s Air Quality Assessment that impacts upon air quality at “sensitive receptors” would not be significant. The officer advised that, whilst it was acknowledged that additional traffic would have an impact upon queuing and reduce traffic speeds, the composition of the increased traffic would be from passenger cars, which are less polluting than HGVs and buses.

The officer concluded that the proposed development would have “no harmful impact on air quality nor on the objectives of the AQMA” and would not harm the amenity of the area.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We look forward to progressing with this application and believe a new McDonald’s would bring significant investment to the local community, as well as create at least 65 new jobs.”

A supporting statement from the company added: “There are few restaurants in the country who can claim to have made so many positive changes to support healthier lifestyles. McDonald’s believe that the lessons they have learned in making these changes can be used to support a wider drive to reduce obesity.”

Planners are recommending the plan be approved with a number of conditions, including submission of litter and pest management plans.

A council spokesperson declined to comment, saying the planning committee would consider the application next week.