A FAST-FOOD restaurant has been refused planning permission because the proposed site is too close to a school.
Stirling Council's planning team rejected the application from McDonald's, saying it could have had an adverse impact on the promotion of healthy eating at the high school.
The panel unanimously refused permission to build a new restaurant and drive-through at Springkerse Business Park in Stirling – just 300 yards from St Modan's High School.
The council was asked to scrutinise whether the vacant site, less than a mile from the city centre, was appropriate for such an enterprise, and whether it was an appropriate development given its close proximity to the Catholic school.
The panel, chaired by Labour councillor Christine Simpson, decided the application went against the Scottish Government's Obesity Route Map Action Plan.
There were more than 20 objections to the proposal at a council planning hearing, including one from St Modan's parent council.
Parents argued the restaurant would have "a significant negative impact on the health, safety and wellbeing of the pupils" and that it appeared "to contrast with Government policy and initiatives designed to alleviate the burden of obesity".
They claimed the promotion of healthy eating and healthy lifestyle by St Modan's would be undermined by the close proximity of a fast-food outlet.
Complainers added the restaurant would tempt pupils to leave the school grounds and that an increase in traffic in and around the shared access routes would increase the likelihood of accidents.
The panel responded: "The adverse impact on the promotion of healthy eating by St Modan's High School and the consequences of locating a fast- food establishment in close proximity to the school on the health and wellbeing of pupils are recognised."
The restaurant would also have fallen outwith designated uses for the site – which included office accommodation, general industry and storage or distribution facilities.
The move follows a study which called for councils to restrict the number of fast-food outlets close to schools. It said more than half of the food purchased by pupils taking part in the Glasgow Centre for Population Health report exceeded recommended levels of fat and calories. Nutritional tests also found that one-third breached Government guidelines on salt.
The Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) claimed it was right that parents' views were taken into consideration by the planning team. Eileen Prior, executive director of SPTC, said: "If this is what the parents at that school wanted, then it's absolutely right that they voiced that opinion. The parents have made their argument and I imagine that reflects the work they've done within the school."
Steven Birrell, communications officer for McDonald's Scotland, said: "We are disappointed the planning application has been declined for a new restaurant, which would have created a mix of 70 full and part-time jobs and we await the written details of this decision.
"We have had a long-term interest in opening a restaurant in the Springkerse area that pre-dates the building of St Modans High School."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article