The Friary Street McDonald's has applied to send out deliveries 24 hours a day, six weeks after the council refused a full 24-hour bid. Comments close 3 October.

The McDonald’s on Friary Street wants permission to send out delivery orders around the clock, six weeks after Guildford Borough Council refused to let it open 24 hours a day.

The new application (26/P/01210, validated on 8 September) is narrower than the one the council turned down. Submitted by Savills on behalf of McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd, it asks to vary the condition that controls the restaurant’s opening hours so that it can trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for outgoing customer deliveries only. The doors would stay shut to walk-in customers overnight.

At the moment the restaurant must close entirely between 12.30am and 6am. That rule is condition 3 of the 2019 permission (19/P/01250) that let the Friary Street premises operate as a takeaway as well as a restaurant, and it applies to any supply of food or drink, deliveries included.

The council said no in July

On 29 July 2026 the council refused a wider application (25/P/01679) that would have allowed 24-hour trading for both walk-in customers and deliveries. According to the new application’s cover letter, the refusal gave two reasons:

  • the potential impact of extended trading on surrounding residential amenity
  • the potential for anti-social behaviour

McDonald’s argues the deliveries-only version overcomes both, because overnight the restaurant “will not be accessible by customers”.

The case McDonald’s is making

The cover letter’s argument runs on location. It says:

  • the closest noise-sensitive property is about 80 metres away to the north west, separated by buildings and the River Wey
  • the PureGym next door already operates 24 hours a day, so “the principle of unrestricted commercial trade in this location is established”
  • Onslow Street beside the site carries traffic, and its background noise, through the night

A noise impact assessment by Sustainable Acoustics, based on surveys at the site on 6 and 7 November 2025, is submitted with the application. It concludes that with mitigation the extended hours would have “no observable adverse effect” on nearby residential amenity.

What it means for you

If the application succeeds, delivery riders would collect from the restaurant through the night, seven nights a week, but you would not be able to walk in or order at the counter after 12.30am; in-store hours would stay at 6am to 12.30am. The change would mostly be felt on Friary Street and Onslow Street, where collections happen.

Anyone can comment on the application until 3 October 2026, through the council’s planning register. The council’s target date for a decision is 3 November 2026. How the register works, and how to track an application, is covered in our Guildford planning applications guide.

Comparison of trading hours at the Friary Street McDonald's in Guildford: currently open 6am to 12.30am for everything; a July 2026 application for 24-hour opening for walk-in customers and deliveries was refused; the September 2026 application seeks 24-hour deliveries only, with walk-in hours unchanged at 6am to 12.30am