Falkirk Council: Objections to new Greggs drive-thru in busy Falkirk street

The bakery giants want to transform an area of vacant land which lies adjacent to and to the south of 58 Grahams Road in Falkirk – close to the town’s retail park.

Planning officials have recommended refusal but the final decision will be made by members of Falkirk Council’s planning committee, which meets on Wednesday.

The local community council, along with several individual residents, have strongly objected to the plans for the site, where Greggs are seeking permission to “erect a restaurant (Class 3) with a drive-thru facility and associated works, including parking and landscaping”.

The site has been vacant for more than 10 years and while some of it is being used as a temporary car park, much of it has become heavily overgrown.

The ten objections made to Falkirk Council include fears over the fumes that the drive-thru would generate, with slow-moving traffic that would increase air pollution.

Some neighbours told the council that the private gardens surrounding the site will “have to suffer constant fumes from parked and slow-moving traffic”.

Others are worried about noise and litter that could come from queued traffic. One said: “… engines running, music playing, building plant and equipment running will render adjacent gardens useless.”

More objections said the situation would cause “a traffic nightmare” while another is quoted as saying: “Graham’s Road is a traffic disaster, currently with standing traffic a good proportion of the day due to the adjacent retail park, without introducing a new traffic hot-spot.”

They also pointed out that the proposed delivery times for this site are 5-6pm at which time Graham’s Road traffic “simply does not move”.

Grahamston, Middlefield and Westfield Community Council said they could not support the proposal.

Their objection stated that the development would not only cause an increase in traffic on Grahams Road itself, but could also lead to more traffic using residential streets nearby in a bid to avoid the main road.

In a submission, they said that adjacent streets would become “overcrowded and dangerous” and added that they also thought there would be problems with parking and litter.

According to the report, an Air Quality Impact Assessment (AQIA) will be needed for the site before any decision can be made.

The planners’ report suggests that while the parking would be adequate, they did feel there could an adverse impact on residential properties and could create problems with noise and odours for neighbours.

The report also adds that the “design quality of the unit is considered to be unacceptable and it is not in keeping with the well established character of the surrounding streetscape”.

Greggs says it would invest around £475,000 fitting out the new premises if it is given the green light and the development would create 15 new jobs.

Members of Falkirk Council’s planning committee will consider the matter when they meet on Wednesday.

In 2018 Tony Macaroni’s walked away from this site where it had wanted to build a restaurant and takeaway with the owners saying council planners were “against the look” of the development.