A town is getting a huge, luxury new health and fitness complex after plans for its first McDonald’s restaurant were deemed “unviable”.
The fast food giant was first granted permission to set up shop at Altira Business Park in Herne Bay in October last year.
But David Lloyd Leisure, which charges membership fees from £139 a month in other parts of Kent, unexpectedly launched a planning bid for the same site earlier this year.
Canterbury City Council’s (CCC) planning committee approved plans for the state-of-the-art gym at a meeting on Tuesday, but also revealed that a previously approved drive-thru and retail outlet have now been deemed unfeasible.
In official planning documents, the national leisure chain outlined plans to develop “a new leisure club, tennis courts, outdoor pool, terraced areas and outdoor sports facilities”.
Planning officers who recommended approval of the scheme said during the meeting that the application was an “acceptable deviation from the Local Plan”.
Permission was previously granted for McDonald’s because certain areas of Altira Business Park, owned by developer Kitewood, are earmarked for other types of commercial use.
Andrea McGregor Barber, representing the developer, stressed to the committee that “David Lloyd Leisure sees Herne Bay as a target market and has been searching for a suitable site for a long time.”
The “premium lifestyle operator” owns 133 clubs, 104 of which are in the UK and Ireland, she explained.
“We haven’t found a suitable site in the town centre or on the edge of the town centre.”
Both agents and officers reported noticing a “lack of health and fitness facilities” in town centres.
However, David Lloyd will actually be Herne Bay’s sixth gym – there is already a gym called Snap Fitness located very close to where the David Lloyd Club is proposed to be built, right next to Sainsbury’s.
The plans have been warmly welcomed, with Councillor Ian Stockley (Conservative) saying: “Personally I am very pleased with David Lloyd’s proposals to develop the site and I think the scheme fits in very well with the plans for the area, which include a large number of new homes.”
“In my opinion, this shows confidence in the region that has honestly been lacking up until now.”
“It’s a significant investment and one we hope to be able to step up and help.”
Green Party Councillor Keith Bothwell said he supported the proposal to build the gym but expressed concerns about environmental issues.
“Given that we declared a climate emergency and a biodiversity emergency last year, this bill doesn’t seem to address environmental issues seriously at all.”
“With extensive planting, you can have a green roof over the entire rooftop, or you can even have plants growing along the walls,” he said.
But town planning officers pointed out that the proposed building would have solar panels on its roof and comply with council policy on environmental issues.
When permission was granted to build a McDonald’s on the same site last year, councillors expressed fears the business park would become a “boy racetrack” and 29 objections were received from residents concerned about increased traffic on the busy A299.
But at a meeting on Tuesday night, a council officer explained: “If this application is approved it will mean that a McDonald’s cannot be built on this site.”
“This is the same application location as last year, so if this is approved and built, there will not be any retail or drive-thru restaurants.
“My understanding is that it’s not practical to build it, which is why this application has been submitted now.”
As part of McDonald’s bid, permission was also given to build a building supplies store, but the land is not listed on David Lloyd’s application, meaning the store could still be built.
“My understanding is that they are not moving forward with the approved plan. [for a McDonald’s]” the officer added.
The application was approved with 12 votes in favor, 1 vote against and 1 abstention.
David Lloyd already has two sites in Kent, one in Dartford and one in Kings Hill.
The other will be built at the abandoned Waterbrook Park site in Ashford, a former site proposed for an Amazon warehouse.
It is not yet clear how much membership at the Herne Bay facility will cost, but it will start at £139 per month in Dartford and rise to £219 per month for the “Diamond package”, which includes access to all facilities.
Kitewood and McDonald’s have been contacted for comment.
