Burger King in Havant allowed to open 24-hours on weekends - despite concerns about anti-social behaviour

The fast food giant had submitted an application to Havant Borough Council to extend its opening hours. Currently, Burger King in Havant is open from 9am-12am each day, with takeaway orders closing at 11pm.

Under the new proposals, the drive-thru would be open from 5am-2am from Monday to Thursday, and opening 24-hours from Friday to Sunday. The indoor restaurant will not be kept open.

Last night (Thursday, February 12), the council’s planning committee met to discuss the plans, which had been recommended for temporary approval, for one year. Some councillors were unconvinced about the application, with concerns about anti-social behaviour in the car park, and the noise levels from the drive-thru in the middle of the night.

Cllr Gwen Robinson, Reform representative for Waterloo, said: “To me, the main issue was that Burger King say they have an effective management regime, and identify anti-social behaviour. The one thing I couldn’t find in the report was whether the police had actually been consulted on this proposal.

“Surely that is a concern, that opening for even longer will make it an area where the kids will be hanging around, whizzing around the car parks in various things; I fully understand you cannot judge it on what might be, but my question is have the police been consulted on this proposal.”

Green Party Cllr Jonathan Tulls, of Hayling West, added: “The noise issue does worry me. One of the main issues which has been raised is the loudness of the intercom system - yes you can turn it down, but having used it once before it’s very hard to hear what’s going on anyway. If they turn it down, you won’t be able to hear anything.

“When they [the council] went to do the noise tests, funnily enough the intercom wasn’t working that day. That was done at 11pm, but 3am is going to be very different for those people living in the residential flats.”

Cllr Tulls also brought up that Domino’s Pizza, situated just 140 yards up the road, is only allowed to stay open until 1am after submitting a similar application to Havant Borough Council.

Councillors were told that the intercom at Burger King has been faulty for some time - and that the situation could be resolved by not allowing extended opening hours until it was working properly and could be tested for noise disturbance.

The planning committee’s vice-chairman, Cllr David Keast, said: “There is a likelihood that we will have vehicles coming in and out for delivery services, so there is going to be some noise.

“I don’t think a year’s unreasonable - we need that to gague whether there is a problem there, and I would like to think that if we do this, in a year’s time we do ask the police for a report and ask them in advance to look out for any problems.

“I’m not unhappy with what’s before us, but I think we need to be a little bit careful. I am also concerned that Domino’s will come in and want similar opening hours.”

Temporary planning approval was later granted by the council, with seven votes and one abstention.