DESPITE hundreds of objections, a 24-hour McDonald's and a Costa Coffee on a site at the gateway to Pembrokeshire look set to be given the go-ahead by planners.

The two refreshment giants are named in a planning application for land on the outskirts of St Clears.

The development on land north of the A40 roundabout could create more than 80 jobs, Draycott Developments and Investments, who are behind the scheme, have said.

A flood of objections have been lodged with Carmarthenshire County Council since the application for the site was first made last year.

But despite public opinion, the plan is being recommended for approval by the authority’s planning committee next Thursday (July 25).

The application is for the development of the site at land at St Clears Roundabout, Old Tenby Road, St Clears, with the erection of both a freestanding restaurant and a freestanding coffee shop, both with associated drive-through facility.

The proposal also includes the installation of an access road, associated car park, public areas, extraction equipment and wider associated works.

The McDonald's, with a 100-seat capacity, would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the Costa, with seating for up to 70 customers, would have opening hours of 5.30am to 10.30pm.

St Clears Town Council has led the town’s opposition to the proposal, which has resulted in 270 letters of objection on grounds including the impact on local food businesses and outlets; the detriment to health; the potential for late-night noise, anti-social behaviour and crime and harm to wildlife, the rural environment and road safety.

However, the county council also received ‘a number’ of letters of support, welcoming new businesses to a ‘dying’ town and stating that more choice of food outlets would benefit the area, as well as creating more jobs for younger people.

Recommending approval in his report to the committee, the council’s head of planning said that business competition was not a valid reason to refuse planning permission, and the location of the site on the outskirts of St Clears could potentially lead to people visiting the town.

He added that it would provide ‘significant economic benefit’ through the amount of jobs being created, and was an acceptable and sustainable form of development, whose new access would help develop the adjacent land’s housing allocation.

He pointed out that there have been no police or highway authority objections to the proposals and no conclusive evidence of the damage to health and well-being.