Fate of massive revamp for Boldon Colliery McDonald's sealed as South Tyneside planners deliver verdict
Plans for a major revamp of a South Tyneside McDonald’s site have been given the green light by council development bosses.
South Tyneside Council’s planning department has approved an application for the McDonald’s restaurant at the Boldon Entertainment leisure complex off Abingdon Way, which houses Sambuca and Tim Hortons restaurants and Cineworld.
This included “alterations to the drive thru lane and parking bays for the introduction of side-by-side ordering, to include a paved island for signage and amended kerb lines”.
Site plans showed the changes would allow orders to be taken from two cars at once from a “double digital menu board” before cars merge into a single drive thru lane to collect their orders.
Plans also included changes to the existing building with the “formation of a new access door, extended and redecorated aluminium cladding and the respraying of window frames, doors, fascia panels and booths”.
Those behind the scheme planned to relocate existing customer order displays and canopies and the “goal post height restrictor” along with “associated works to the site”.
As part of the plans, accessible parking bays were proposed to be “relined to current standards” with new dropped kerbs, along with new parked order signs being installed, bays being relined and the addition of “staff walkways.”
During a council public consultation exercise on the plans there were no representations submitted.
After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department approved it on September 22, 2025.
Council planners, in a decision report, said the proposal “would result in no significant harm to the visual amenity of the area, the highway / public safety and the residential amenity of any neighbouring properties”.
The council decision report confirmed the proposed works would be “small in scale in relation to the host property and surrounding properties and their design would not be out of keeping with the surrounding area”.
It was also noted that “the site currently hosts a number of signs and canopies and so the relocation of the existing customer order unit and goal post height restrictor would not be out of keeping with the visual amenity of the site or locality”.
Elsewhere, council planners said that the “reconfiguration of the parking bays and drive thru layout for side-by-side ordering are not considered to result in any significant harm to the amenity of the vicinity”.
The council decision report adds: “Given the nature of the proposed works and given separation distances to nearest existing residential properties, it is considered that the proposal would have no unacceptable impacts on the amenities of occupiers of any neighbouring residential properties, including in relation to noise.
“Environmental health also confirmed that they have no concerns […] the council’s transport development officer has [also] been consulted on this application and has no objections.
“Consequently it is not considered that the proposal would cause undue harm on highway conditions or safety.”
An application form submitted to council officials earlier this year said proposed plans would not lead to an increase or decrease in the number of employees at the McDonald’s site.
A separate advertising consent bid seeking permission for the relocation of three signs and the addition of “one new freestanding sign within the reconfigured drive thru lane” was also approved this month.
For more information on the McDonald’s revamp and council decision visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 250459
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