‘Cars have more rights than people’: Glasgow residents rail against rise of drive-through restaurants
Among the data available on the city of Glasgow is one particularly incongruous pair of findings: it has some of the lowest levels of car ownership in the UK, but the greatest number of drive-through restaurants – almost 50 at the last count.
The latter has caused increasing frustration for residents, with at least 10 new applications lodged since 2019 and the vast majority granted. Campaigners have emphasised the apparent contradiction with Scotland’s view of itself as an ambitious climate leader, particularly following its hosting of Cop26 in 2021.
Now, that contradiction has been brought into sharp focus as Glasgow City Council gets set to consider plans for a drive-through Starbucks in the central Gorbals area in the same week as the city’s low emissions zone comes into force less than a mile away.
“The proposal is totally unnecessary, utterly short-sighted and entirely counterintuitive,” said Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who is among those objecting. “We should continue Glasgow’s progress by rejecting… proposals of this kind every step of the way.”
One Glasgow resident told the Observer they felt “crowded out” by new drive-throughs. “They don’t just encourage cars, they make it harder and more dangerous to walk and cycle nearby,” they said. “It’s like cars have more rights than people.”
Other objections come from councillors and community groups, including nearby Gorbals Parish Church, which highlights environmental concerns, as well as pointing out that the proposed site is in an area of high deprivation and lower than average car ownership, making the development unlikely to benefit locals.
It joins a growing movement of campaigns across Scotland formed to oppose drive-throughs on the basis of health, safety and community
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