Stop the Whopper in the West End of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The proposal to build a drive-through burger king has a number of key elements which should mean that the proposal is rejected out of hand in favour of consideration of how to manage the development of the site to promote the greater good and prosperity of the residents of the west end of Newcastle. Working with the developer to provide a commercially viable alternative which benefits the wider community in a positive way.

Specifically :
• Increased traffic and flow disruption on the already congested Westgate road.
o Bentinck Rd. and Dunholme Rd. have not been considered in the traffic survey and are already subject to traffic calming measures and a fatality occurred last year on Bentinck Road.
o Increase air pollution from idling traffic at the site exacerbating the already problematic air quality in Newcastle.
• Long operating hours
o 6 am-12 am hour opening means that the site will be busy throughout morning, noon and night
o Delivery service and waste collection will inevitable be scheduled early in the morning and late in the evening

• Increased Noise
o The development proposes the removal of the west wing of the Police Station which will increase the exposure of noise to the residents of the existing traffic on the west road PLUS the additional contribution of the drive-through. This has not been considered in the noise assessment.
• Increased litter
o It is widely seen that Junk food retailers create large amounts of litter due to poor handling of wrappers off-premise.
o Vermin are already a significant problem in the back allies – more food waste and discarded and dropped food will only add to this.
Generally :
• The exploitation of a deprived area
o A number of studies have shown that the number of Junk food takeaways is correlated with deprivation in an area.
o Obesity and deprivation are also shown to be strongly correlated
o Type 2 diabetes is currently the largest burden on the NHS

• Community Health Concerns
o The key concerns of the Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning policy have not been considered in the application ( https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2019-01/hot_food_takeaway_spd_-_october_2016_-_final_0.pdf)