Accessing the site
- There will be two entry and exit points for the proposed restaurant – one on Balmoral Road and one on Wiremu Street.
- The Balmoral Road entrance and exit will be restricted to a left turn in and out only.
Traffic
- The intersection of Balmoral and Dominion roads is one of the highest capacity intersections in Auckland, managing levels of traffic around 50,000 vehicles per day.
- At most, the proposed restaurant is estimated to generate a four per cent increase on existing traffic.
- Like many other sites in Auckland, there are different traffic conditions and demands at different times of the day.
- On its busiest day, we estimate the proposed McDonald's will be visited by around 1900 cars of which about 35% will already be travelling past the site. (This equates to a traffic increase of around 4 per cent on its busiest day.)
- Auckland City Council has zoned this site for business, and we are working with our traffic engineers and the council to ensure additional traffic is well managed.
- Traffic management is an aspect of the proposed development that we would work with the council on and continue to assess on regular basis.
Noise
- McDonald’s has a number of restaurants that successfully operate alongside residential neighbours including Glenfield, Clendon and Five Crossroads in Hamilton.
- We are aware that minimising noise is a key concern for our neighbours and our plans for Balmoral include measures to address this.
- For example, we propose to locate the building entrance and the Drive Thru as far as possible from neighbouring houses, and propose to install fencing and vegetation to help minimise noise.
- The Playland operates to around 8pm or 9pm each night, and is enclosed by louvered windows. The conservatory provides the feeling of an outdoor/open space for our customers to eat their meals, while at the same time containing and minimising noise.
- Our testing has concluded that the noise of activities within the restaurant building and ‘people noise’ from the car park will be lower than the maximum levels set out in Auckland City Council's District Plan.
Light
- The proposed restaurant will include exterior lighting of the building and car park for the convenience and security of our customers.
- We’ve taken great care with our lighting design to ensure we minimise the impact of light ‘spill’ onto our immediate neighbours.
- For example, we have proposed a low-level night lighting plan that directs light onto the property and meets council standards, while minimising spill.
Signage
- McDonald’s signage is distinctive and is a feature of our restaurants.
- The proposed restaurant will include a pole sign, illuminated wall signs, entry and exit directional signs, and illuminated ‘M’ arch signs over the two road entrances.
- The proposed 10m pole sign on Balmoral Road is in keeping with the commercial environment around the intersection of Balmoral and Dominion roads, and will be an important aid for motorists.
- While we propose to illuminate some of the signs, they will not flash and have been designed to avoid light spill onto neighbouring properties.
Hours of operation
- We propose to operate the restaurant 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
- From our perspective, these hours are about providing a level of convenience for our customers.
- We currently do about five per cent (5%) of our business between the hours of 12am and 6am.
- In our experience, the 24-hour nature of the proposed restaurant can have a positive influence on activity in the local area because of the increased passive surveillance through staff on-site, security cameras and lighting.