Construction work is underway on two new 24-hour drive thrus at Willow Brook shopping centre. McDonalds and Starbucks are set to open sites at Bradley Stoke in August, despite fierce opposition from some residents and councillors.
The north-eastern corner of the shopping centre's carpark is currently closed off as excavators dig up the ground to make way for the new outlets. It appears the path into the carpark from Bradley Stoke Way, by the end of Wheatfield Drive, is closed as a result of the works.
It comes after it was announced in January that car washing service Waves had vacated the carpark as part of preparations to begin construction. The works, which got underway in February, are expected to last six months.
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Willow Brook Centre manager Andy Wynn told BristolLive: “It has been a long road to get to this point, with further delays caused by Covid-19. However, we are all excited to see work finally get underway and look forward to seeing customers enjoying both new units in August.”
But a picture shared on a local Facebook group of what appears to be fencing blocking the entrance to the carpark from Bradley Stoke Way has prompted concerns that the new outlets will cause "awful traffic."
Tarrant Jenkins said: "That McDonalds is going to cause massive traffic. It will be a nightmare," while Matthew Gosling wrote: "The only thing that worries me is the traffic, it's fairly busy in and out of Willow Brook's single entrance anyway."
That's only one of the concerns voiced by locals about the arrival of two new fast food chains. Plans for the development were originally rejected by South Gloucestershire Council in March 2019 on the grounds that they would cause increased noise, congestion and litter problems.
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But they were eventually granted planning permission on appeal, after an inspector found there was no good reason to refuse the application. They acknowledged residents’ concerns but concluded that the two new fast food outlets, which will lie close to a number of residential streets and schools, would not create “unacceptable living conditions” in terms of noise, disturbance, odours or fumes.
The Starbucks unit is expected to employ the equivalent of 20 full-time staff, while the McDonalds restaurant is expected to employ more than 65 full and part-time staff. The two new outlets will result in a net loss of around 80 car parking spaces at the shopping centre.
When BristolLive visited Willow Brook to hear people's thoughts on the development, there was mixed reaction. Anita, who lives opposite Willow Brook shopping centre, said: “It’s a no, no. It’s awful. We’ve already got takeaways here and we don’t need another. We don’t need more rubbish and litter."
Another resident, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “I feel sorry for the people living behind it, but I don’t think it will affect me too much. “It would be nice not to have to go all the way [to Cribbs Causeway and Filton]. But I wouldn’t like it if I was living close.”
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