Lincoln food van ‘forced to relocate’ by new Burger King drive-thru

The owner of a food van at Lincoln’s Pelham Centre fears she will have to relocate her business after plans were approved for a new Burger King.

Rafkins (Lincoln Pelham Centre) have been granted permission for a restaurant with drive-thru on the Canwick Road shopping centre, next to the former Carpets for Less site.

Plans were approved after developers addressed traffic concerns.

Jade Lynch took over the plot with the food van, now called Dolly-Jade’s Kitchen, at the Pelham Centre in August 2020, offering breakfast baps, burgers, chips, wraps and a variety of hot and cold drinks.

The van – previously called The Famous Bacon Roll – has been in that location for over 30 years, and she is now worried what will happen next.

Jade told The Lincolnite: “After seeing the news yesterday and as a business owner of Dolly-Jade’s kitchen, it most definitely raised concerns.

“It would certainly mean relocating my business because the plans are directly in my spot.

“Secondly, the traffic is definitely going to be a problem, because just having three or four cars waiting to turn into Tesco can cause congestion up the hill, let alone having a back log of customers waiting for orders from Burger King.”

Jade added: “I have had multiple messages from my customers concerned as to where Dolly’s will be moving to if plans go ahead.  ZR Tyres will also likely lose custom due to lack of parking.

“I am very happy here, but whatever happens my customers will be first to know.”

The Lincolnite contacted Burger King regarding the traffic and parking concerns.

A council report concluded that there would be no adverse impact on traffic, although Lincolnite readers have been concerned by the plans.

Tracey Nicholls said: “Had to check it wasn’t April 1, traffic is mad already. Just imagine queues over the bridge.”

Gemma Summerfield said: “So they close Burger King at St Mark’s and now they are opening one on the Pelham Centre – ridiculous. Traffic is already a nightmare there and will be made worse with a drive-thru. All the more reason to avoid that part of town.”

Marc Reynolds said: “If it has the same effect on traffic as it does everywhere else it is going to add to an area that is already a bottleneck nightmare in my opinion.

“Furthermore, drive-thrus are not “carbon” friendly and green are they? Having vehicles constantly sat in a loop, engines running, only adds to an already busy and polluted area for traffic. I used to live opposite here, the air quality is poor at best already.”

Nikki Greatrex Webbe said: “It’s bad enough to get around that corner when cars are waiting to get into Tesco. An accident waiting to happen.”

An officer’s report within the documents submitted to City of Lincoln Council said that the scheme had caused a number of concerns at first.

This included the potential impact of queuing cars impacting on a busy route in/out of the city as well as the impact a new building would have on the historical view.

However, it said: “The applicants have demonstrated through the submission of a Transport Assessment, which the Highways Authority have approved, that there would be no impact on highway safety.”

It added there would be “no adverse impact on views of the historic hillside… or on visual amenity.”

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