McDonald’s is fighting back after two councils rejected plans for the fast food giant to expand their huge presence in Australia. New locations have been proposed in several Sydney suburbs in the past 12 months, however the applications have been met with community outrage, including opposition from NSW Police.
But McDonald’s has refused to take no for an answer, and is now taking the City of Sydney Council and the Northern Beaches Council to court to try and overturn their decisions to reject the development applications.
Residents in inner-city Redfern and the Northern Beaches’ Manly Vale who submitted concerns about McDonald’s trying to open in their suburbs have been informed by their councils’ legal representatives that McDonald’s has launched appeals in the Land and Environment Court of NSW “against council’s refusal of the development application”.
Redfern local Brett Liebenberg told Yahoo News Australia he wishes McDonald’s accepted the original ruling and moved on.
“I’m extremely disappointed that this is being pushed again, particularly given the strong and well-documented community opposition to the original proposal,” he said.
One half of the proposed site in Redfern has become an e-bike shop following the DA rejection. The other store is a tobacconist. Source: Yahoo News Australia
“The rejection reflected genuine local concerns, and it’s frustrating to see those dismissed rather than respected.”
Opposing the original submission in Redfern last year, NSW Police’s Senior Constable Peter Langbein argued the opening of a 24-hour McDonald’s near the train station would lead to an increase in anti-social and criminal behaviour.
There were several submissions raising concerns for the suburb’s large Indigenous population, with the council’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory panel arguing the increased availability of fast food would “exacerbate existing health disparities”.
The council received 269 objections to the proposal, with just 17 submissions supporting it. There was a similar response to the Manly Vale DA, with the community raising crime and traffic congestion concerns.
Last year, City of Sydney council also rejected an application for McDonald’s to open a store in Newtown. McDonald’s has been successful in Marrickville despite community backlash thanks to its development not requiring council or public approval.
Prior to its DA rejection, McDonald’s said it would try and address the concerns of Redfern locals, and said the proposal would generate 100 jobs for the area, as well as offering the possibility of community partnerships.
Explaining the widespread opposition to McDonald’s, Western University’s planning expert Professor Nicky Morrison said communities with “a strong sense of place” were resistant to development that veered from their local identity.
“They’ve invested decades into shaping the local culture, the street life, the food scene and the character of their high streets,” she told the ABC last month.
The Land and Environment Court has set a date for a conciliation conference between City of Sydney council and McDonald’s for April 28. The date set for Northern Beaches Council is May 28, the Manly Daily reports.
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