Burgers at the junction

Orana could become home to Albany’s second 24-hour drive-through McDonald’s.

Last month, the City of Albany received an application to develop a new McDonald’s on a vacant lot at the corner of Le Grande Avenue and Albany Highway within Orana Neighbourhood Centre.

The centre includes a Coles supermarket and Orana Cinemas.

The proposed McDonald’s would be in the north-east portion of the centre, opposite South Regional TAFE.

It would be set back about 10m from Albany Highway, facing the Coles entrance and would operate with up to 15 staff at a time.

Plans include an additional 24 parking bays and a bicycle rack.

About 17 per cent of the proposed site would be designated for landscaping, including soft garden beds and up to 10 shade trees near the entrance.

The application, prepared by urban and regional planning consultancy Planning Solutions, said the proposed facility would provide a “valuable service” to the Orana community and people travelling along Albany Highway.

“The proposed fast-food outlet is suitably located within an established commercial precinct and will expand the offering of commercial services to the expanding Orana and wider Albany community,” the application stated.

“The fast-food outlet improves the streetscape through passive surveillance, attractive landscaping and activity generation at a currently vacant site in the Orana commercial precinct.”

Consultation with the City of Albany started last year, including a teleconference with officers on April 17.

Planning Solutions said the City had “no in-principle objections to the suitability of the proposed McDonald’s development”.

“The various technical reporting prepared in support of the development confirms the proposal is acceptable from a traffic impact, bushfire hazard and acoustic amenity perspective,” it stated.

The development application is open for public comment on the City of Albany website until May 8.