McDonald’s midnight opening plan in Ulverston gets go-ahead

A new fast food restaurant in Ulverston can open until midnight every day.

McDonald’s is set to open its new branch at Oubas Hill and asked South Lakeland District Council for permission to open from 6.30am to midnight.

The authority’s licensing committee approved the application, despite concerns from nearby residents that it would increase levels of noise and youths congregating in their cars at night.

Barrister Ben Williams, representing McDonald’s, appeared before South Lakeland District Council’s licensing sub-committee on Tuesday to appeal to councillors to approve the application.

Mr Williams said: “The brains of this operation are old and wise. McDonald’s has been around for a long time.

“Through trial and error, they have had their fair share of issues country-wide, and they have learnt, they have been able to introduce policies and processes.”

Mr Williams said the police force in Cumbria had been consulted and had not raised objections to the proposal.

He stressed that CCTV would be in operation to serve as ‘extra eyes and ears’ at Oubas Hill and to help deter ‘joy boys [sic]’ gathering in their cars at night.

“You’ll get people throughout the day, you’ll get police officers passing through and truck drivers, so I think the ‘joy boy [sic]’ phenomenon is perhaps a little overplayed,” he said.

Mr Williams said McDonald’s would ‘absolutely’ be working with police in response to a question by Councillor Helen Ladhams, who was chairing the meeting.

The restaurant is to be one of the many franchises of McDonald’s, with the fast food giant saying, on its website, that around 93 per cent of its restaurants worldwide are ‘owned and operated by independent local business owners’.

Mr Williams told the meeting: “You don’t get a franchisee running McDonald’s in the Lakes unless they know the area.”

In November, it was reported it was expected the site would create at least 65 full- and part-time jobs for local people.

The licensing sub-committee, meeting at South Lakeland House, Kendal, granted McDonald’s opening hours of 6.30am to midnight every day of the week at the Ulverston site.