Planners call halt to McDonald's Scottish scheme

McDonald's has found itself saddled with a £500,000 abandoned car showroom in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, which it cannot sell and cannot get planning permission to convert into a drive-through restaurant.

Scottish Borders Council this month rejected the company's second planning application for the site in Wilderhaugh, after turning down its first bid in April.

The restaurant would have been McDonald's first in the Scottish Borders and was supported by 7,000 locals, who signed a petition in favour of the development.

The £1.5m project would have created 60 jobs, although a McDonald's spokeswoman alleged that some council members had suggested that catering positions were "not real jobs".

She added that the company felt it had been misled by the council, arguing that the economic development unit had invited McDonald's to expand into the area and that the council had given it written confirmation that it would face no planning problems.

A council spokesman said council members could not give such undertakings before the planning committee had reached its decision.

He said Wilderhaugh had been earmarked by the council as an Assisted Area industrial development, and that allowing retail use would force up adjacent land prices beyond industrial rates.

The council rejected McDonald's revised application, in which it pledged to sell back one-third of its site for industrial use, while McDonald's turned down two alternative sites suggested by the council.

McDonald's has been granted an appeal hearing, scheduled for 20 September, over the rejection of its first application and intends to pursue the council for costs if successful. by Angela Frewin