Black Country Burger King branch given green light to operate 24 hour opening
Fast food customers in a Black Country town will soon be able to visit the Burger King branch 24-hours-a-day after a new premises licence was granted by a council.
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Until now the restaurant on the Keyway Retail Park in Armstrong Way in Willenhall was only allowed to operate between the hours of 5am and 11pm.
The town's McDonalds branch in Crescent Road in Shepwell Green already operates 24 hours.
The chain told licensing committee members that only the drive-thru lane would be available to hungry customers after 11pm.
The application was granted despite concerns from the borough's director of public health Nadia Inglis, who said that the proposals undermined one of the four licensing objectives, protecting children from harm.
Out of 14 council areas in the Midlands, Walsall has ranked third worst for childhood obesity.
In Willenhall South ward where the restaurant is located nearly half of all children in Year Six are overweight or obese and has among the highest levels of childhood obesity in the borough.
Ms Inglis said was no "silver bullet" for dealing with childhood obesity, but the increased number of fast food outlets was less likely to contribute.
Alex Tomlinson representing Burger King said that children are unlikely to be buying food from the restaurant during the new night-time opening hours. He also said that public health issues fell outside of licensing objectives and that significant weight should not be put on the argument.
Hollie-Mae Janes, public health development officer, said: “It doesn’t really matter if children are purchasing food at the drive-thru. The health of adults directly impacts the health of children. Adults who are overweight and obese are more likely to have children who are overweight and obese.
“Public health is not anti-economy or anti-business. We need economic growth for a healthy population. If people are ill, they cannot work. In Walsall out of those unemployed 30 percent are off due to long term sickness.
“Dietary related ill-health including obesity, costs the NHS in Walsall £82 million per year. It is estimated that obesity related illness will result in 43,000 working days lost, and £14.5m in lost earnings and a £40m loss to the wider economy in Walsall.”
The councillors said while they noted the officer's concerns, they found that the additional hours applied for by Burger King would not undermine the licensing objective of protecting children from harm. The premises licence application was granted.
