Residents of Wright and Coombs have denounced a new proposal that would see a KFC fast food restaurant constructed opposite a children's playground and close to the Charles Weston School.
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The 292-square-metre restaurant, which would be located on the corner of Gornall Street and Steve Irwin Avenue in Wright, is expected to form part of the mixed-use Koko Molonglo development.
A development application for the eight-storey residential and retail development in the Molonglo Valley was submitted in November last year and is still under review with the planning authority.
It is understood that the restaurant's approval would be subject to the approval of the larger Koko Molonglo development - the project is titled 'Proposed KFC Koko - Stage 2'.
"I really don't think they've put much thought into this. Just look at where they've put it in proximity to the park, the pedestrian areas and the school," Wright resident Ryan Hemsley said.
"There's people in the park and walking to the bus stop … the traffic management is a mess. There’s no safe way to as a pedestrian to access the KFC."
The proposed fast food restaurant includes 18 car parking spaces, one accessible space, a loading dock, two lane-entry drive through and a bike rack. No pedestrian crossings are pictured in the site plans.
The site's Traffic Impact Assessment and Parking Report said that "trips from the suburb [of Wright] are mostly car dependent".
The fast food restaurant proposal has re-ignited a long-running stoush about Coombs shops between residents and developers on Mr Hemsley's Facebook page 'Save Molonglo', he said.
Residents have been urging action on the mostly completed but still empty Coombs shops site, which is about 100 metres away from the Koko site, for close to four years.
The construction of the shops has become a protracted battle since the ACT government sold the land in 2015.
Just a week before the auction, the government reduced the size of the proposed shopping centre, which arguably made it more difficult for the eventual purchaser to find a tenant.
"We've been waiting quite a number of years for shops to come [to Coombs] and to get a [proposed] KFC is just a slap in the face," Mr Hemsley said.
"And I think [Koko Molonglo] should have waited for the first development to be approved before they decided to throw up a fast food restaurant behind it."
The Wright KFC would have16 illuminated signs, including an 8.5 metre pylon sign featuring a KFC bucket with Colonel Sander's head, and drive thru with menu boards.
The Koko Molonglo development proposal included 158 residential units, a 100-room hotel, rooftop garden, lap pool, and room for a supermarket and other shops.
The development's website, which urges retailers and residents to register their interest, says its confirmed retailers include a "hair salon" and "eateries".
Koko Molonglo was contacted for comment on the proposed KFC restaurant but did not respond.