A furious neighbor has been forced to build a “fortress” around her house to stop McDonald’s construction.
Rachel Laidler, 55, recently launched a protest against the fast food giant by unfurling a bold banner ten minutes before a new restaurant opened next door.
Rachel and her husband Peter, 70, who claims McDonald’s destroyed their perimeter wall, put up a banner reading “We don’t love it. See the irreparable damage they left behind your fence.
The couple believes a 15-foot trench for a water treatment tank less than six feet short of its boundary caused their concrete retaining wall to slip and crack.
They have been forced to shore up the precarious wall with rubble and pallets, including the wooden poles used to hoist the banner, for fear it will fall and damage their single-family home.
Rachel Laidler, 55, displayed this bold sign reading “We Don’t Love It” ten minutes before the grand opening of the new fast food establishment.
Rachel (pictured) and her husband Peter, 70, believe a 15ft trench for a water treatment tank less than six feet short of its boundary caused their concrete retaining wall to slip and crack .
Pictured is an aerial view of the McDonalds which was built next to his home in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
Laidler said: “The sign has been fantastic – it has made people smile, but it has also let them know that we are not happy with what has happened.”
‘McDonald’s didn’t listen to us, the council didn’t listen to us and all we want is for them to come and talk to us.
‘They had stopped responding to our emails, but since the banner went up we’ve had a response, so it’s worked to a point.
‘The plan was to leave the banner up for a week and take it down, because we really need the wood to stop the concrete posts from falling over.
“We’re going to have to build our own fortress to protect our home until this is all resolved.”
Laidler, head of a textile furniture company, claims that digging the hole caused movement in the ground, causing the fence to collapse.
She claims there was no approved plan to install a water treatment tank so close to her property, which the couple built seven years ago.
McDonald’s insists it is “satisfied that the correct procedures were followed.”
Laidler, head of a textile furniture company, claims that digging the hole caused movement in the ground, causing the fence to collapse.
Laidler says McDonalds refuses to listen to his main concerns
The Laidlers say the network did not have permission to install it so close to their home.
Mrs Laidler said: “I don’t think some of the people at the top of the project understand what’s happening on our side.
‘We could leave it and replace the wall of the house when it all collapses, but we would prefer it to be fixed before that happens.
‘We would prefer to spend our lives under the radar but, at the same time, I don’t like injustice. ‘I don’t like David and Goliath type situations.
‘They need to come and see the state it is in, to be able to understand it.
“I don’t know if they can’t cope at all, but we’re just human beings saying, ‘We’re really unhappy, please fix things.'”
The water treatment tank was installed while work was carried out to convert a former curry house into the new McDonald’s in the thriving market town.
The Laidlers say the chain did not have a building permit to install it so close to their home and said contractors refused to work with them.
Mrs Laidler said: “We got used to them digging holes.
‘Then they said we’re going to dig a hole, but it’s near your fence, you might not want to go through that side of our house.
‘I thought they were protecting us. They put a board so we couldn’t move around. Then they started digging and the concrete posts began to learn.
‘Every time I asked a question, the builders just looked at the ground and shuffled their feet.
McDonald’s was granted planning permission last year to renovate the building and car park and install an underground wastewater treatment tank, despite receiving 595 objections.
‘Since the banner went up, civil engineers and structural engineers have contacted us and said, ‘can you send me pictures?’ ‘How could this have been approved?’
‘These are people we’ve never heard of before and they can’t believe what happened.
“If people we don’t know contact us in disbelief, we know we have a case.”
Discussing her own efforts to install a septic tank on the couple’s property, Mrs. Laidler said she and her husband were forced to “jump through hoops.”
She said: ‘We had to place our tank at least 7m from the border wall. Then we complied.
‘This tank is 4.5m deep in a hole and less than 2m from our foundations.
«It seems to us that they are well away from their restaurant, but they don’t bother to think about our side.
‘You hear how councils impose measures against homeowners who build a wall a little too high or put up a small porch. They are told to remove them because they breach planning laws.
‘What’s the point of making laws if big companies can ignore them? We are the residents. We are the ones who pay the municipal tax.
‘Why should McDonald’s be able to get away with this?’
McDonald’s was granted planning permission last year to renovate the building and car park and install an underground wastewater treatment tank, despite receiving 595 objections.
Bradford Council said a retrospective application would have to be submitted as the location of the water treatment tank differed from initial plans.
Laidler added: “We love our house and we don’t mind that there is a McDonald’s next door.”
‘They have done a lovely job on the building and it is lovely to hear the sound of excited children.
Ms Laidler (pictured next to her damaged fence) said defiantly: “We’re not being Nimbys about this.”
‘We didn’t hear car doors or anything and it’s been busy because it just opened.
‘We’re not being Nimbys about this. We find it difficult to understand how such a large company can act in this way.’
McDonald’s said in a statement: ‘As part of the construction of our new McDonald’s restaurant in Ilkley, we installed a water treatment tank, following a review of the local drainage infrastructure.
‘Once on site it became clear that the water treatment tank could not be placed in the exact location originally planned, however the main outlet pipe where the treated water leaves the site remains in the same location.
“We have been assured by relevant experts that the relocated tank does not affect neighbors or the surrounding area in any way, and we are working with the planning authority to ensure they are satisfied that the correct procedures have been followed and we will pursue any steps additional that you ask us to take.’
A Bradford Council spokesperson added: “The council is in discussions with landlord representatives.”
“We have been informed that a retrospective planning application is being prepared and once received it will be considered by the council in full, which will include the usual publicity to give residents the opportunity to do so.”
