Charlton McDonalds to close and become drive-thru Metro Bank if plans approved
Metro Bank have submitted plans to open a drive-thru bank in Charlton on the site of McDonalds.
Do McDonalds have plans for another local site? There’s no submitted plans as yet.
Despite plans for a drive-thru bank (or drive-through to ditch the Americanism) it will still have facilities for those arriving on foot – though there’s barely even paving at some nearby spots such as this when approaching from the east.
Planning documents state the “Council’s Principal Engineer – Transport & Highways, briefly reviewed the proposal and made the following comments:
· The site has moderate access to public transport with a PTAL of 3.
· The site is within a retail park where there is an abundance of parking available nearby which is accessed from private roads.”
What about pedestrians?
Well, I’m not sure this comes from the Council’s Officer as it’s ambiguous but the document then states: “There appears to be a lack of pedestrian crossing linking the entrance footpath at Bugsby’s Way/Peninsula Park Road to the building across the drive-thru lanes. It is noted that most foot traffic would come from within the site from people visiting other retail units.
However some pedestrian link to the north of the site would encourage interaction between the site and the public realm.
A pedestrian crossing over the drive-thru lanes from the footpath to the site is also recommended”.
Yet it’s not just the drive-thru lanes where there’s a lack of crossings. And what about areas like this when approaching from other shops?
Bank expansion
Metro Bank is one of the few to expand as many others close branches, yet the company has had a rocky year after an accounting error and stocks crashed. They are down 90% on this time last year.
Drive-thru banks are very common in the States but far less so in the UK. When I visited the States I’d often see huge pick-ups and SUVs pulling up to drive-thru banks off Highways. It all seemed curiously American. To see something something in inner London is odd yet shows how car-dominated this area is.
Click here to view plans
Was gonna say how can people be so lazy not to walk then see the pic and remembered how bad it is for those on foot in that area.
I agree with more branches of Metro Bank as there branches are currently few and far between. If a branch opens in Charlton I think it would be very well used. A lot of other banks have closed their branches including in Greenwich and at Blackheath Royal Standard. I am not sure how a drive through would work though.
Does anyone know where McDonalds is re-locating to?. I hope they are not leaving the area.As it a very popular branch of McDonalds
The eight or nine rats my daughter and I saw running about outside there last week will be most disappointed. Also disappointing that a customer thought it would be fun to lob them a few chips (or fries if you like).
Sorry, forgot to add there’s always the Woolwich Dockyard branch if you use the drive thru (sic).
The McDonalds is probably too small to be profitable enough to sustain the franchise.
Drive-by, not drive-through if the recent uptick in local violence escalates
IF there at rats at Charlton McDonalds I wonder if anyone as reported this to Environmental Health at Greenwich Council? Easy to do on line or by telephone.
The problem is most people do not use bins or even do not know how to use bins itseems and just throw their rubbish where they think fit which does not help with rodent problems. You get this a lot outside fried chicken shops and other take aways and restaurants too. So the problem it not exclusive to McDonalds.
With regard to the Metro Bank at Charlton which will be located in the heart of a retail area. I think if this new branch gets the go aheadi it woulld be well used and a new bank branch is always welcome with so many other banks closing their local branches. Not sure how a drive thru would work though. I am guessing it would be ATM’s as cannot see the branch being open and staffed 24/7.
It does depend. Often it’s just a higher, modified ATM for drivers to lean over and safely use and in some places an actual teller. In Kuwait the drive-through ATMs are some five foot off the ground given that almost every vehicle is an outsized SUV of some sort. For parents with children or more vulnerable disabled drivers correctly-positioned and safe-to-use drive-through bank has many benefits.
As for enhancing the area it will have the twin effect of getting rid of the McDonald’s (the families who use this as a lunchtime service can move on to IKEA for a meal, if they don’t mind the pollution along the way) and the vagrants that dwell by the Asda cash machines. As a bonus, it will discourage teenagers from bringing burgers into Starbucks and using that as a canteen rather than a coffee shop
Just to make this clear, I’m not saying the rats were from McDonalds. The staff there to do their best to clear up and their cleanliness standards are high. The rodents were coming from the bushes by the road. It is the people who ditch stuff nearby that are to blame and of course, unbelievably, the idiots that drive up and chuck them chips are hardly helping things….