Call for ‘no-fry zones’ as fast food outlet near school gets OK
THE Irish Heart Foundation and the HSE’s clinical lead for obesity have called on the Government to introduce ‘no-fry zones’ around schools nationwide in a bid to tackle childhood obesity.
Their calls follow planning approval by Fingal County Council for a fast-food outlet to open just 300 metres from a primary school in Skerries, Co. Dublin, and right beside a Montessori school.
Local parents were left ‘very, very angry’ after the planning permission was granted this week, despite their strong objections, and have vowed to appeal the decision.
Now the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) and the HSE’s Professor Donal O’Shea have called for a national policy which would ban fast-food outlets from opening within a certain proximity of schools.
Fingal County Council confirmed last night that planning permission made by Marbleside Ltd for a two-storey restaurant with a drive-through was granted this week, subject to 22 conditions.
A spokesperson added that an appeal may be made to An Bord Pleanála by April 2, so any further comment on the application ‘would be inappropriate at this time’.
The development will be located at Skerries Point Shopping Centre on Barnageeragh Road in the town, just a four-minute walk from an Educate Together national school.
Local parent and spokesperson for the committee opposing the development, Joe O’Brien, said it is an ‘understatement’ to say that parents in the area are disappointed at the council’s decision.
‘We’re very, very angry because it’s a residential area, there’s a primary school beside it… our kids are walking past it in the hundreds every day, several times, and it’s going to be visible from a lot of the classrooms in the school as well,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail, adding that it is ‘really cynical’ that a company would target children ‘within a stone’s throw’ of a school.
Since the opening of the food outlet was first proposed, the committee has vocally opposed the development, holding public meetings and encouraging locals to make formal objections.
‘We did everything and we made a really strong argument, and a lot of us were kind of miffed as to how all these arguments could be trumped essentially by an individual private business interest,’ Mr O’Brien said.
He added that the nearby school puts a strong emphasis on healthy eating, but fears this work will now be undone.
‘We’ve got a healthy eating policy which is really well adhered to, but this kind of just torpedoes the lot of it if there’s going to be big adverts and temptation outside the gates.’
There are also concerns among locals that a drive-through will lead to traffic congestion near the schools.
The head of Advocacy with the IHF, Chris Macey, speaking to the Mail, said: ‘What we need here is a national response to this through legislation or national planning guidelines. What’s happening at the moment is that the right of fast-food companies to target children where they go to school is taking precedence over children’s health.’
Professor O’Shea, the HSE’s clinical lead for obesity, said the issue of fast-food outlets being located near schools should be a straightforward measure to tackle, and would have a major positive impact.
‘It’s just very depressing given the scale of the child obesity crisis that simple measures like this can’t be implemented,’ he said.
‘When you put fast-food outlets near where children go, children are going to eat more fast food.
‘If you put a fast-food outlet near anybody, child, adult, anybody, they’re going to eat more fast food.’
Childhood obesity remains a concerning issue, and the IHF is now seeing kids as young as ten presenting with high blood pressure.
Mr Macey added that even though primary school children would usually not be allowed outside school grounds during lunchtime to eat from fast-food restaurants, most pupils live close to their school, and therefore close to the outlet.
Local parents left ‘very angry’ ‘Temptation outside gates’