Archive: McDonalds - SayNo2Maccas
Last Updated 15/3/12
(13/4/11- P) Rubbish process and rubbish result:10,693 objections weren't enough to put community - and competition - first
On March 9, 2011 surrounded by around 200 gallery members at its Planning Committee meeting in Gisborne, Macedon Ranges Shire Council gave McDonalds the keys to the town by agreeing to approve permits that allow the development to go ahead.
One excuse used to justify the decision was that McDonalds had made concessions that would see their off-putting world-wide generic structures slightly more respectful of Gisborne's rural character. A McDonalds' representative apparently told the meeting that if Council didn't approve, Maccas would go to VCAT and any concessions would be lost - it would go for the usual gaudiness instead.
The first thing Council had to approve was an amendment to an approved Development Plan. That Plan said a petrol station would go on the site coveted by Maccas. Council already had 20 written objections and 8,673 signatures on a petition opposing the change, and another 2,000 signatures were handed over on the night, making 10,673 signatures in total (there were around 6,300 people in Gisborne/New Gisborne in 2006). But this daunting display of community opposition wasn't enough to convince enough councillors that their first responsibility was to the community, not McDonalds.
An alternative motion to not approve the amendment to the Development Plan, moved Cr. Letchford and seconded Cr. Guthrie and supported by Cr. Manning, was lost 3 votes to 4.
Instead the Officer's recommendation to approve the amendment, and three permit applications, was then moved in a job lot by Cr. Jukes, seconded by South Ward (Gisborne) councillor Helen Relph, and carried.
The previous day the Mayor, Cr. McLaughlin, was quoted in the Macedon Ranges Weekly as saying the only thing Council was considering was the building and signs, which over-simplifies things. Consequently Gisborne will have to plough on with just the one (1) petrol station and two (2) kerbside bowsers, but some 35 food outlets, because there isn't another suitable site for a petrol station in the town. And that town is set for booming population growth, if the draft Macedon Ranges Settlement Strategy has its way.
MRRA Says:
This decision could well qualify as the front runner in the 'Two Finger Salute To Community' Awards. 10,690 people didn't want Council to approve this. 10,690, and all of them ignored. As far as MRRA knows, that's a record in Macedon Ranges Shire.
A quick read of the Officer's Report on the night suggests only 3 decision-makers were aware of the real decision Council had to make, and those were the 3 Councillors who supported the alternative motion to not change the already approved Development Plan. It seems everyone else thought Council was powerless to stop good ol' Maccas invading Macedon Ranges, no doubt nudged along by McDonalds' barely-disguised threat of retribution if Council didn't toe the McDonalds' line.
Yet Council couldn't approve the permits McDonalds needed unless it changed the Development Plan from petrol station to convenience restaurant. If just one more Councillor had supported the alternative motion to keep 'petrol station'...
There was some fancy footwork about giving notice on the signs as well. Most reasonable people might think that 16 illuminated signs, including two that are 5 metres wide and 4 metres off the ground, might get up someone's nose, but not Council. Council said the signs wouldn't adversely affect anyone so Council didn't give formal notice. The other application for an illuminated sign - over 5 metres high and 2.5 metres wide - sitting not on the site but out on common ground next to (read on the verge of) Robertson Street also wouldn't affect anyone, so Council didn't give formal notice of that one either. Why give formal notice when that would have given the community legal rights? Good Lord, couldn't have that... Might upset McDonalds!
All up, it could be said it was a rubbish process that produced yet another rubbish result in Macedon Ranges.
Click here to see MRRA's AAMI Call Centre Archive
(23/10/10 - P) Objecting to Maccas is about the same as saying "no" to suburbia, isn't it?
On Saturday 23 October, you can show your opposition to McDonalds moving into Gisborne . The 'SayNo2Maccas' group is holding a rally opposite the site where McDonalds want to be (on Robertson Street, next to the car wash and call centre). Gather in the park, next to Petstock. The rally starts at 3.30, and is expected to last an hour. Bring your own afternoon tea, and the kids - this is a peaceful expression of resistance to suburban icons like McDonalds muscling in on Macedon Ranges.
If you haven't yet signed the petition that has been circulating, most shops in Gisborne have it.
Those wishing to return signed petition sheets can drop them into the Guardian Pharmacy in Hamilton Street, Gisborne.
(2/11/10 - P) Despite massive community opposition, Maccas is still try to buy its way into Gisborne with promises of a community cash-splash - as you do
At last Wednesday's Council meeting, Cr. John Letchford announced that the SayNo2Maccas group had collected some 8,600 signatures on a petition opposing approval of a McDonalds fast food outlet in Gisborne.
The petition called on Council to not approve changes to a Development Plan that are required for the proposal to go ahead.
"We the undersigned call on Macedon Ranges Shire Council to not approve changes to the Development Plan applied to 25 Robertson Street, Gisborne which would allow a McDonalds Restaurant to be constructed on the land, on the grounds that a McDonalds Restaurant is an international business that would have an adverse impact upon local businesses, create a suburban visual intrusion within the town and on nearby recreation areas, and damage the town’s rural character and attractiveness to tourists. We further call upon Council to give effect to its existing policy to support local business by not supporting major fast food proposals in the Macedon Ranges Shire."
The 'McDonalds site', fronting Robertson Street, is owned by Nexus Property Investments P/L, a director of which is local identity Viv Glennister, who has been central to most of the development in the Hamilton/Prince/Goode/Robertson Street block, including the infamous AAMI call centre.
Some petition sheets are still out there, and SayNo2Maccas says it will keep collecting signatures. Signed petition sheets can be dropped off at the Guardian Chemist, Hamilton Street, Gisborne.
MRRA Says:
Now that's impressive! Possibly the biggest petition ever produced in Macedon Ranges, and there have been some good ones. Well done to SayNo2Maccas, and to locals and visitors who flocked to sign on.
Local scuttlebutt is that almost a million dollars may be made on the sale of the land. McDonalds' planning application documents show the land was bought for $990,000 in November 2007 by Nexus Property Investments P/L (per Viv Glennister), so if there's any truth in the scuttlebutt (i.e. that the selling price is $1.8 million), it sure would be a tidy return on investment. It does make us wonder, though, why a restaurant/cafe facility (which is still empty) was incorporated in the ground floor of the infamous call centre. The AAMI call centre itself only got the nod after a controversial VCAT decision and even more questionable 'assistance' and interference by the State government and then Council in the disgraceful planning process (and exclusion of local residents) that characterised the whole project. Click here to see MRRA's archive on the call centre.
Can 8,600 people be wrong? That's more people than the entire population of Gisborne township.
We hope Maccas gets the message. Thanks, but no thanks. We're fine just the way we are, and your dangling money in front of us won't change the reality that all you really want is to make money out of us, and don't give two hoots about what the people of Macedon Ranges value. What do we value? Here's a hint: gaudy golden arches and the crass suburban design and identity of Maccas premises definitely aren't at the top of our list...