Year-old plans to double Five Guys Mildenhall, off A11 at Fiveways roundabout, car parking space shelved

Plans to double the car parking space at a town’s American fast food restaurant which were a year old have been shelved.

Five Guys JV Ltd had applied to West Suffolk Council to build an 18-space overflow car park at the back of its outlet off the A11 at the Fiveways Roundabout, in Barton Mills, near Mildenhall.

It was hoped the new spaces would give it sufficient parking for both staff and customers, including during peak times, encouraging all visitors to park at the site which would benefit both the restaurant and the wider highways network, a planning statement said.

Concerns had been raised over the potential impact on wildlife and woodland areas aroud the site, particularly the Breckland Forest areas.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust lamented the net loss of trees the proposals would cause; the application detailed three replacement trees to be planted, which the Trust said would be ‘far below’ the lost number.

It said, because of this, the plans should not be accepted by West Suffolk Council planners.

In January, the applicants responded to some of the comments from relevant parties, including the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

They said, given Natural England and the council’s place services had not objected on the grounds of impacts to trees, it appeared the proposals were acceptable in that regard.

The council’s place services raised issues with the proposed bollard lighting within the extended car park and how it could impact certain species of wildlife.

In response, the applicants said the same lighting had been approved within the existing car park and would have a very limited spread of light.

No reason was given for the withdrawal of the plans.

On the application, the site was listed as Pancake and Waffle Shack.