THURROCK Council has fast-tracked an application to create a drive-through McDonalds restaurant in the heart of Grays and quickly rejected it.

The application, submitted on 25 April, was to build the facility on the site of the Brayley Mazda dealership on the junction of Orsett Road and Stanley Road.  It would have featured a restaurant to seat 48 people and 23 car parking spaces and a drive through to service windows.

McDonalds wanted to demolish the existing car show room and workshops to create the facility but residents' and local councillors quickly put together a wave of opposition.

Following their strong representations the council has rejected the plan because of its detrimental effects on traffic, the local neighbourhood and appearance and design.

A letter of rejection was sent out last Thursday (20 June).

The principal reason for rejection was: "Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the application would not pose an unacceptable risk to highway safety, including the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other highway users.

"The proposal is likely to lead to queuing along Orsett Road which would have a severe impact on the local highway network."

Grays Riverside ward councillor Val Morris-Cook said:"This is an important decision, and the correct one that's sends a very clear message that this council is no longer a soft touch for such a speculative planning application. 

"This application must have been a bit of a try-on, that in the past may have succeeded, who knows? As soon as we got wind of it, we made ours and residents' objections very clear.

"This is not the right location for this kind of facility. It would have been a stone's throw from elderly sheltered housing, and would have generated increases in traffic, congestion, noise nuisance and pollution, on an already busy major route in to and out of Grays."