New Burger King will create 35 jobs for Gosport

A new Burger King Drive thru is to get the go ahead near KFC in Gosport pic 2

Councillors approved a planning application for a Burger King to be built in the town.

The opening of the fast-food chain will create the equivalent of 35 full-time jobs.

Members of Gosport’s regulatory board welcomed the jobs boost and the application was unanimously agreed.

It comes despite residents’ concerns about bad smells and extra litter coming from the site which is located next to a KFC drive-through.

Council leader Mark Hook said: ‘I share in these concerns but we should be looking to support a national company that wants to come in and create 35 jobs in a market where there are people who will take these roles.’

Cllr Richard Dickson agreed. He added: ‘This is going to be good for Gosport. It is an industrial estate and we expect industrial activity.

‘I understand there are concerns from residents but this is something I fully support.’

People living near the site, off Fareham Road, had objected to the application as they did not want to fast-food restaurants next to each other.

The meeting heard that the two biggest issues were around litter and smell.

Four objection letters were received some of which also mentioned an increase in traffic to the site.

But a representative from Burger King said the restaurant will have a state-of-the-art system to help filter away the smells.

She added that the traffic increase would be minor. Council officers agreed and the application says there will be an ‘average of eight trips per hour over the course of a 12-hour period.’

Cllr Dennis Wright, of the Labour Party, said he welcomed the creation of jobs but wanted to see guarantees put in place that litter and bad odour would be dealt with.

‘The big problem with this application is the litter and odour,’ he said.

‘I would like to see an obligation attached to this application so they have to clear up the litter regularly and stop as much as the bad odour as they can.

‘The big problem as far as the residents are concerned is the smell from the already-existing KFC.’