Health site approved as McDonald’s plans scrapped

Plans to build a 60-seat McDonald's restaurant in Herne Bay were first unveiled in January 2023

A Kent town is set for a new luxury health and fitness complex after plans for its first McDonald’s were deemed “not viable”.

Permission was initially granted for the fast-food giant to open a restaurant in Herne Bay’s Altira Business Park in October last year.

However, Canterbury City Council (CCC) approved plans for a large state-of-the-art gym after David Lloyd Leisure launched a planning bid for the same site earlier this year.

Developers Kitewood, which owns Altira Business Park, and McDonald’s have been approached for comment.

In official planning papers, David Lloyd Leisure set out plans for a new leisure club, tennis court enclosure, external pool, terrace areas and external sports facilities.

The proposed development has been criticised for its proximity to New Thanet Way

On behalf of the developers, Andrea Macgregor Barbour said the national leisure chain had identified Herne Bay as a target market and had been searching for a suitable site for some time.

Both the agent and the officers noted a “lack of health and fitness facilities” in the town centre, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The site will be Herne Bay’s sixth gym and third David Lloyd Leisure site in the county – with one in Dartford and one in Kings Hill.

When permission was previously granted for the McDonald’s, councillors raised concerns the area could become a “circuit for boy racers,” and the bid received 29 objections from residents fearing more traffic on the A299.

At the meeting this week, a council officer explained: “This application, if approved, does mean that the McDonalds can’t be built on this site.”

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