McDonald’s £1m Larne drive-through will create up to 40 jobs

A £1m investment in Larne by burger giant McDonald’s will see a new drive-through restaurant open in the town after a planning application was approved by Mid and East Antrim’s Planning Committee this morning (Thursday).
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The new outlet at Circular Road will see the creation of up to 40 new jobs.

It will open on the site of a former 1.27 acre lorry park site which had been on the market for £350,000 with construction work due to start at the end of the summer.

The anticipated return of the fast food giant to Larne has been heralded by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council as a “major economic and employment boost for the borough with the prospect of a global giant investing locally”.

The former lorry park site off the Circular Road roundabout in Larne.The former lorry park site off the Circular Road roundabout in Larne.
The former lorry park site off the Circular Road roundabout in Larne.

Planning agent Tom Stokes told this morning’s committee meeting: “This is a fabulous good news story for Larne. My client hopes to start on site towards the end of the summer.

“Hopefully, the committee will grant this £1m investment which will create between 30 and 40 new jobs.”

Larne Lough Alliance Councillor Robert Logan said that he was “very happy” to propose the planners’ recommendation to approve the application.

Seconding the application, Larne Lough DUP councillor Alderman Paul Reid said: “This is truly a good news story -30 to 40 new jobs through a £1m investment. I am delighted to second the proposal.”

The application was agreed unanimously.

Councillors heard that a letter of support to planners described the application as a “much-needed investment for a disused part of town”.

The proposed new drive-through restaurant will be served by 47 parking spaces. A new pedestrian access from the site to existing footpath is planned to ensure “connectivity to the town centre”.

A drainage network will be installed to tackle “surface water ponding on the entire site” with “surface water drainage discharged into the Larne River” via a new storm pumping station, a plan which has been approved by the Rivers Agency.

No development is able to take place on the site until the method of sewage disposal has been agreed in writing with NI Water.

Previously, McDonald’s operated a restaurant at another Circular Road site which closed in the early 2000s.

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