Maldon District Council (MDC) has approved plans to move the Maldon McDonald's restaurant to two 'drive thru' lanes - with associated works.

Members of MDC's Central Area Planning Committee last night (Wednesday, 28 July) approved the proposal to reconfigure the 'drive thru' lane to accommodate side-by-side ordering at the McDonald's on Fullbridge Road.

Councillor Michael Edwards, the chairman, voted through the proposal after he was given the deciding vote following four councillors voting for the council officers' recommendation to approve the plans, four against and one abstaining.

During the debate, councillors raised concerns about the impact of the 'drive thru' lanes on traffic at the site.

Councillor Kevin Lagan said: "It may increase people's appetite to come because it's a bigger draw because there's more facilities, so it could actually work in the negative."

Councillor Carlie Mayes drew attention to the allocated car parking spaces. She said: "I'm also not terribly happy with the fact that there should be 46 car parking spaces on this site, and there are only 34."

She added: "It really comes back to what Councillor Lagan was saying about increased cars coming here - not only are you increasing cars, you've not even got car parking spaces sufficient for the number of spaces that the site should actually have."

Councillor Edwards said: "I think the point of a 'drive thru' is not to park."

A district council planning officer told the meeting: "There's the potential that you could make it a bit better, but you certainly won't make it any worse and therefore no harm will be caused by the development proposed."

The officer added: "You can't require a development to improve an existing situation - the planning process would just aim to prevent any problems getting worse than they are."

Councillor Lagan added: "The fundamental problem with this is not this development, it's the overdevelopment this place has seen through terrible decisions in the past that we can't change, so this place is choking."

The discussion also focussed on the associated works in the proposal. These involve alterations to the building's elevations to include a new "folded roof" concept, minor extensions to pay and collect booths, relocation of the shop front entrance with sliding doors and the installation of two digital customer ordering points with overhead canopies and a "goal post" height restrictor.

Councillor Mayes said: "I think the dark khaki green roof is an excellent choice - it will blend much better with the riverside location."

However, she added: "I think there is demonstrable harm with the roof cladding from an aesthetics point of view - I don't want this building to stand out like a sore thumb."

Councillor Chrisy Morris initially proposed to refuse the application - citing lack of car parking and flood risk - which was seconded by Councillor Anne Beale. This was refused after four councillors voted against the proposal, three for and two abstained.

Councillor Christopher Swain then proposed to approve the application, which was seconded by Councillor Lagan. Councillor Edwards voted this through, after he was given the deciding vote.

The councillors, however, voted to refuse an additional application to install five new digital freestanding signs and a digital booth screen at the McDonald's site. Councillor Jeanette Stilts proposed the refusal, citing "visual clutter and overdevelopment of the advertisement sites".

This was seconded by Councillor Morris and voted through, with five councillors for, three against and one abstention.

The councillors also voted to defer a further application to install four fascia signs on the site to MDC's District Planning Committee. Councillor Mayes said: "The signage is visually obtrusive, causing harm detrimental to the area."

Councillor Morris said: "We do not need to be taking drivers' eyes off the road, looking at screens on a building."

The decision was proposed by Councillor Morris and seconded by Councillor Mayes - it was voted through with six councillors for, one against and one abstention.