McDonald's Kentish Town Seeks 24-Hour Operation
McDonald's, the global fast-food chain, has triggered objections by asking for permission to keep its Kentish Town Road branch open for 24 hours a day. The company has asked the local council to confirm there are no legal reasons barring it from operating around the clock. Currently, the branch closes at 1am and reopens at 5am.
McDonald's argues that historic planning permissions, granted in 1978 when the restaurant first opened, and then in 1985 when the first floor was converted from offices into a dining area, do not impose any restrictions on opening hours. Therefore, they claim they should be allowed to serve customers through the night.
However, the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Forum has raised strong objections. Vice-chair Dee Searle stated that the original planning permissions did not foresee the rise of food delivery services, which have become a significant source of local nuisance. She noted that the permissions did not envision the premises operating as a 24-hour restaurant with late hours primarily dedicated to takeaway and delivery—a relatively recent phenomenon.
The Forum suggested that while it might be lawful to trade for 24 hours, early morning customers should be required to eat in during the night to avoid disruption. Ms Searle added: “McDonald’s already creates significant local nuisance from the numbers of delivery drivers. The noise nuisance would be substantially increased to the detriment of the neighbourhood. This should be rejected because it is enabling a change of use class by the back door.”
The controversy highlights tensions between commercial ambitions and community concerns in Kentish Town, as residents and local groups push back against what they see as an inappropriate expansion of operating hours.
