McDonald's Australia: Rubbishing Yamba

 

A letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner on 29 April 2010:

 

Rubbishing Yamba

HEATHER Lewis (The Daily Examiner letters, April 15) was mistaken when she attributed to me statements such as 'big numbers of school kids in Treelands Drive making a mess' and 'visitors wouldn't go there'.

Given Ms Lewis also remarks that she passes over some of my letters to the editor, these recent errors are hardly surprising. However, as Ms Lewis has raised the subject of 'making a mess' perhaps I should look at the propensity for McDonald's fast-food outlets to generate waste and become a focal point for branded litter.

Firstly, the McDonald's development application states that it intends to send certain trade waste into Yamba's sewer system with little more than a modern version of an in-ground concrete grease trap between itself and the sewerage treatment process (McDonald's Australia Limited, Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) March 2010, p.19). A matter which is of more than passing interest given the known limitations of the treatment plant, the fact that any plant upgrade is literally years away and McDonald's own figures suggest that it expects to sell thousands of cooked-on-premises items per average day.

Secondly, McDonald's is rather coy on the subject of its own in-house paper waste once this proposed 24-hour fast-food outlet is operational. It is likely that Australia-wide it creates approximately 20,816 tonnes of waste per annum with an estimated 26 per cent of this being paper/cardboard and only 40 per cent of total waste is possibly being recycled (Popai Sustainability 2008 & McDonald's Australia Ltd 2006). Grafton Regional Landfill currently accommodates approximately 7560 tonnes of commercial/industrial waste in fill per year (Clarence Valley Council, 2010) and another 24-hour McDonald's would potentially add up to somewhere between 17 to 30 tonnes of extra waste each year - or more in a worst case scenario in light of the fact that the company admits contaminated food packaging is unpopular with commercial recyclers.

Given this waste volume, one begins to wonder about any beneficial claims made by McDonald's in the development application.

Thirdly, litter is generated by McDonald's customers in considerable quantity. Clean Up Australia's own 2007/08 National Litter Index highlights the fact that in NSW McDonald's items made up over 14 per cent of all branded litter for that survey period, making it the leading branded litter found on footpaths and in gutters etc ( www.kab.org.au/litter-research/what-we-do/national-litter-index).

This despite McDonald's asserting for years that it has effective litter management in place.

In Britain in 2008/09 a two-day government contracted survey of 10 cities found that McDonald's items comprised approximately 29 per cent of all gutter litter share ( www.prnnewsire.co.uk). Again McDonald's was way ahead of any other branded fast-food litter. It would appear that McDonald's corporate legend should read 'In Litter We Trust'.

So along with further heavy traffic and peak period congestion along Treelands Drive, increased traffic on four residential roads, noise and odour issues in the vicinity of the store, possibly taking business from 'some local take-away food outlets' (SEE,pp. 22-42), and establishing a new focus for late night antisocial behaviour; it seems that Yamba can also expect an increase in the volume of street litter it experiences. All to enhance the interests of a businessman who does not live in the Clarence Valley and a foreign multinational which eventually repatriates most of its profit back to its head office overseas.

Elsewhere in the media there has been some talk of change for the better in relation to the McDonald's application. Now change in any town is inevitable, but such change should be sustainable, positive for the local economy, add to social cohesion and fill the expressed needs of the community generally. If proposed change does not meet these criteria it should be viewed with some suspicion.

In my opinion, McDonald's Australia does not attempt to do more than pay lip service to these four basic requirements - intent only on its own corporate imperatives. Imperatives which see it blithely state that the negative impacts of establishing a McDonald's in Yamba 'are restricted to a small percentage of the population', as though this makes those impacts of no consequence to the many local residents they may impinge upon (ibid,p.42).

As a resident in one of those streets which will feel the impact of council's decision I intend to fully exercise my rights as a local government elector and so strongly do I feel on this subject that, should Clarence Valley shire councillors continue their ever-growing list of disappointingly ill-conceived planning decisions and grant consent for the McDonald's development, this will necessarily inform how I fill out my ballot paper in 2012.

JUDITH M MELVILLE, Yamba

"Yamba no more needs a McDonald's then the average person needs a bullet through the head"

McDonald's versus Yamba heats up with 466 written submissions to Clarence Valley Council against McDonald's push to enter a small NSW North Coast town, one submission asserting neutrality and only 25 submissions in support.
As well as 3,974 signatures on petitions.

One of the very few 'for' submissions contained this strange paragraph which turns reality on its head:

What is not in question is the sincerity of the thousands of people objecting to the McDonald's proposal and the 17 deputations made yesterday. This sincerity had council's planning committee refer the DA straight to a full ordinary monthly meeting next week when seven councillors will decide Yamba's future.

While letters to the editor in The Daily Examiner continue on 10 May 2010:

Ulterior motives from letter writers
THOSE living elsewhere but writing to council approving of a Yamba McDonald's may have motives such as ensuring they will then not have to face a McDonald's building in their town.
Therefore only Yamba letters should be counted.
Let's note the following:
1. The economic downturn has hurt businesses and now a further threat of a multi-national company (who can afford to go for a few years without making a profit in a town while grabbing market share) faces these businesses.
2. Clarence Valley Council has a duty of care to protect local businesses and will be responsible for any loss to small business as a result of McDonald's taking business away.
Clarence Valley Council also has to ensure resident's have the widest possible choice of small businesses in the area and should small food businesses suffer with the introduction of Macca's this will not be achieved.
3. One food business for sale in Yamba has had an interested buyer informing them they will wait and see what happens with the McDonald's application first.
Should McDonald's go ahead in Yamba this food retailer will have to financially accept less for what is, at this pre-McDonald's stage, a very successful, popular and profitable business.
How many others will be facing the same fate?
No town can take several businesses closing due to lack of interest from prospective buyers as a result of McDonald's possibly moving in.
Even those just looking to buy food businesses in Yamba feel Macca's would cost them business.
4. If this is what is happening to businesses - what then of the values of homes along Treelands and adjoining roads?How many people will pay what as home is worth now when Macca's moves next door?
Will council listen to the majority of Yamba people who said 'no'? Will they act on moral issues and hear all the concerns and act accordingly?
McDonald's doesn't equate with progress.

Let's see if council respects the people of Yamba.

Those making decisions in council are not affected by their decisions, Yamba ratepayers and voters are.

The majority of people in Yamba voted 'no'.

If council votes 'yes' we can remind council how many voted 'no' in Yamba by voting 'no' to them come election time.

CELESTE WARREN, Yamba

Isn't it enough to say no to McDonald's?
I THINK Democracy is probably one of the best forms of Government we humans can come up with so far, Governments voted by the people for the people.But however is this really so?The majority of people who live at Yamba don't want a McDonald's at Yamba.That should be the end of the story, the people have decided.What is the point of having a council that disregards or rides rough shod over the wishes of the majority of the people?
Did the council just listen to the objections to placate people and make them feel good?

Since the council has said the objections raised were not legitimate what is a legitimate reason to stop such a development?

What about health reasons?

There is a growing incidence of obesity in our population including our children do not fast food out lets like McDonald's contribute to this incidence of obesity?

Yamba is a beautiful place, no doubt about it.

Yamba no more needs a McDonald's then the average person needs a bullet through the head.

The council should not be there just to rubber stamp the wishes of multi national corporations and big business but to respect the wishes of the majority.

If it can't do this, it ceases to be legitimate form of Government.

JOHN STELZER, South Grafton

Who was it that told McDonald's that it didn't have to bother with decent supporting documentation for its proposed fast food development in Yamba?

In a previous post I pointed out that the Australian arm of that large foreign multinational McDonald's had included a misleading Traffic Impact Assessment with its Development Application (DA) for a 24 hour eat-in and drive-through fast food outlet in Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River on the NSW North Coast.

A brief look at the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) it also lodged with Clarence Valley Council in support of this new development shows that its spin above fact attitude continues.

On Page 13 McDonald's describes a prefabricated building of "compressed fibre cement with applied finishes. The applied finishes are in a combination of colours, including grey, black, brown and red that provides a distinctive 'MacDonald's' look" as being "designed to reflect a coastal character".

This hardly sounds like a building with coastal character or one which would be markedly sympathetic to either Yamba's existing post-2000 commercial and original architecture mix in Treelands Drive and environs or to the town's tourism branding objectives.

Based on the basic layout diagrams supplied, the McDonald's store intended for Yamba may look very like the facade of this one at Sydney's domestic airport although positioned differently on the proposed block:
That McDonald's has done better than these aesthetically barren generic pre-fabs is evidenced by what the company has done in other countries which have obviously demanded a more culturally sensitive approach and more appropriately sized signage, as exampled by Singapore:
McDonald's Australia has not confined itself to spin about its architectural plans. At times its description of matters both it and Clarence Valley shire councillors must properly consider in relation to the Treelands Drive DA is downright misleading.

In the text on Page 8 of the SEE, McDonald's states; "Bounding the subject land is a a vacant lot zoned 2(a) Residential under Maclean Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 2001...."

However, there are actually two adjoining vacant residential lots at the rear of the site with building entitlements.

Clarence Valley Council's own mapping supplied to McDonald's clearly shows that although both are zoned low density residential and are on the same deposited plan, these are two separate lots. As does Council's online interactive mapping which clearly indicates two different street numbers, lot numbers and land area dimensions:
Google Maps and Google Earth also show these two lots - but just to be on the safe side I telephoned the Yamba real estate agency which is currently selling one of these vacant lots and this agency is under the same impression.

If all this mapping is correct then this is a serious omission on McDonald's part because both of these residential lots in Kookaburra Court need to have any impacts on amenity considered before development consent is either given or refused, as does the house which abuts a rear corner of the development site. Consideration which McDonald's appears intent on downplaying by 'disappearing' one lot entirely from much of its documentation text.

As for its general understanding of the commercial precinct in which it seeks to place this hamburger joint - this would border on the hilarious if the issue was not so serious.

McDonald's asserts that two businesses (which are very visibly extinct in Treelands Drive) are actually alive and well and, doesn't appear to understand that there is a permanent cinema in Yamba which is not only alive and well but in the process of expanding its seating.

Now McDonald's Australia is no stranger to NSW planning legislation and local government requirements, so its very lackadaisical and unprofessional approach to the Yamba development application is quite frankly puzzling.

To recap; this multinational states that it doesn't know details of bus routes in the immediate vicinity of the proposed development site, has not done a meaningful study of the two Treelands Drive intersections subject to significant increases in traffic if the development were to go ahead, appears ignorant of the number of properties adjoining the site, obviously has not adequately looked at the character of either the street or town and probably intends to build the restaurant to a set design with no distinctive 'coastal' character.

On 9 February 2010 McDonald's and Clarence Valley Council staff had a pre-lodgement meeting and the company asserts in the SEE Introduction that the DA "meets pre-lodgement conditions".

Which leaves me pondering a question: Who was it that apparently gave McDonald's Australia the impression that it would be acceptable for the company to just throw together a token Statement of Environmental Effects and Traffic Assessment attached to the building design and site layout?

I can think of no other reason for such inaccurate information being so insouciantly presented for consideration by Council in the Chamber in the near future, except that McDonald's has formed an opinion that the Yamba community can be discounted and shire councillors herded like so may sheep.

McDonald's? Spare us!

McDonald's Australia has a development application before Clarence Valley Council for a 24 hour a day eat-in and drive-through store in the small coastal town of Yamba which has a permanent population of around 6,000 residents and no 24/7 food outlets.

McDonald's recently announced that its Ballina licensee Scott Campbell will also be the licensee for its proposed Yamba fast food store.

Needless to say the ambient temperature in Yamba has risen considerably as a result of McDonald's move on the town and many are not looking forward to increased traffic, more litter and a focal point for anti-social behaviour after the pubs close.

Apparently Mr. Campbell is aware of the general drift of public opinion and is said to be avoiding Yamba at the moment as he fears being "crucified".

A letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner on 19 April 2010:

McDonald's? Spare us

BOTH Jim Agnew and Chris Pontifex in letters both gave stirring and loving platitudes to McDonald's.

However, they seem a little 'selfish' themselves. Firstly, McDonald's is not building McDonald's House in Yamba, they are building a 'restaurant', a 24/7 operation at Treelands Drive.

A multi-million dollar company giving to charity - so they should but it is my experience that the humble wage earner in Australia (and elsewhere) are the people who give more collectively than any big corporation, ie, Boxing Day Tsunami and Haiti.

Jim, you will not be affected by the increased traffic (already a growing problems over the years and petitioned by residents) on Osprey, Treelands, Gumnut/Halyard roads.

The increasing traffic on these roads already is a problem for residents and has still yet to be addressed and solved.

Nor are you a resident who is virtually opposite the proposed structure or living just doors away or backing onto it.

Chris Pontifex claims it is 'just Treelands Drive and not the centre of town' and asks how it could affect the aesthetic value of the town.

It can and will and Treelands and adjoining streets have homes along them still.

It will affect the aesthetic value of these homes, the street and living conditions along that area.

As far as small business is concerned and the claims they are being selfish - many who claim this are not small business owners in the area or if they are, they are not food-related services.

Small businesses operate on small margins and any invasion to this margin by a large multi-million dollar company like McDonald's will ruin them. (Oh Maccas will employ many youth and many small businesses whose owners have mortgages and families and who employ people in this area can no longer operate and have to close because McDonald's takes their custom, ie, the plight that may face Smoko's in the industrial centre).

But wait! You tell me it is a franchise owner and not the multi-million dollar McDonald's who will benefit?

Exactly how many franchises can be operated by one franchisee?

I've spoken to people who have dealt with McDonald's on a sponsoring sporting groups basis - they all tell me the same. The only sponsorship they received was footballs and vouchers.

So much for 'putting so much into the sports groups' in the community.

Small business here does that already and much more than token gestures.

Why can't they just have a small section of a shopping centre - one small shop like other franchise businesses here?

Why can't they be on the highway?

How can you justify a 24/7 store in Yamba when we are not as big as Ballina and Grafton?

We don't need such excess for such a small town.

CELESTE WARREN, Yamba.

A Facebook NO to McDonalds in Yamba entry:

Michelle Smith It's not about the food for us, it's simply that we love Yamba as a quaint and peaceful holiday place free from chain-store fast food and commercialism. We have raved about the fact that the town is full of small local businesses, cafes and coffee shops and that we really feel like we've "escaped the city" when we are there. I'd like to say "no" simply so Yamba can keep this identity for us and many many more travellers and visitors who go for the same reason. Yes McDonald's plays a huge role in our Australian way of life, but surely they don't need to [be] quite everywhere?

Meanwhile elsewhere in Australia..........

The Northern Star on 7 January 2010:

POLICE are appealing for witnesses following an assault on a 50-year-old Byron Bay man and a 43-year-old man from Alstonville at McDonald's in Ballina. The incident happened at 4pm on Tuesday when a group of three males were asked to leave the restaurant, and then the grounds, after consuming alcohol and abusing staff and customers. A staff member who asked the group to leave was punched in the face and knocked unconscious momentarily. Another male customer came to his aid and tried to stop the group from leaving the scene, but was punched repeatedly in the face. Both victims were taken to Ballina Hospital, where one of the men was admitted. He was later released.

The Gympie Times on 6 January 2010:

"DISGUSTING", is how Magistrate Dennis Beutel described the behaviour of a drunken teenager at Gympie's McDonalds recently.

The Canberra Times on 5 February 2010:

The court heard......had consumed up to five beers between 5.30pm and 1.30am and had not eaten anything, which it was said contributed to his high breath test reading.

Police noticed the vehicle that evening and saw it pull over into the McDonalds car park.

The Canberra Times on 26 February 2010:

.... pleaded guilty to low- range drink driving and operating a vehicle so the wheels lose traction after he was caught with a blood alcohol reading of .060 in Queanbeyan McDonalds car park at 11.45pm.

The Queensland Times on 22 December 2009:

AN IPSWICH man drove just 200 metres to a fast food restaurant while more than three times the limit because he was hungry, a court heard.

Ipswich Magistrates Court was told 22-year-old Kyron Lee Griffiths had driven to McDonalds and home again on December 3.

He was fined $900 and disqualified from driving for nine months.

The Chronicle on 25 November 2009:

.....yesterday faced court after he assaulted a teenage girl working at McDonald's by grabbing her hair and slamming her head on the counter.

........was a passenger in a vehicle going through the McDonald's drive-through at College View at 12.20am on November 1.

He was drunk and angry because a McDonald's worker could not understand what they were trying to order.

McDonald's Corporation: In Litter We Trust

Images of McDonald's litter from around the world including Australia

Despite numerous media releases promising a responsible approach to the waste it produces McDonald's Corporation fast food outlets around the world manage to produce large amounts of branded litter in and around the building.

Local government sometimes tries to curb the litter-making machine by insisting that McDonald's undertake daily 'litter patrols' as one condition of a development consent.

However, this and other measure do not appear to be very effective if this article in the U.K. Daily Echo on 23 April 2010 is any indication:

IT was a mountain of rubbish that had left him McFurious.
The growing mound of burger wrappers along Dave Elgram’s street had not been cleared for so long that he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Armed with a litter-picker the dad of three collected a bin liner full of McDonalds rubbish and tipped it on over the restaurant floor in front of shocked staff.
Now the 44-year-old is vowing to return to the store in Burgess Road every Monday with a fresh bag of rubbish until staff clean up his street.

Likewise, the fact that one NSW councillor could collect a backpack of McDonald's rubbish to show his fellow Wollondilly Shire councillors just last year is hardly reassuring:

``I went to four different McDonald's outlets the other night and was horrified by the rubbish thrown everywhere,'' he said. ``I know it's not McDonald's fault, it's the people who dumped it there but we live in a catchment area and I don't want to see this rubbish in our drinking water.''

In 2008 Choice magazine reported:

Branded litter, such as packaging from McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Cadbury and other retailers, accounts for 24% of the overall waste stream, with highways a major dumping ground, according to an Australia-wide study by Keep Australia Beautiful. The study, released in late September, also reveals that the two biggest culprits are Coca-Cola and McDonald's, which contribute close to 10% each of the branded litter.

These national figures broke down to 14.7% of all branded litter in NSW being McDonald's litter, which was the highest percentage for any branded fast food, drink, or confectionery/snack food items in that state at the time.

In 2010 a two-day litter survey of ten British cities found that McDonald's litter made up 29 percent of all gutter share.

In Litter We Trust could almost be this foreign multinational's official corporate legend.

However this is only a small part of the problem for regional areas such as the Clarence Valley, because eat-in customers at the proposed McDonald's fast food outlet in Yamba will add considerably to local government's landfill waste disposal needs in ever decreasing site options.

McDonald's 24 hour fast food: Do you want a drunk with that?

Don't you just love when you drunk, and McDonald's is like the best idea in the world!!!! Facebook page Drunk McDonalds quote and photograph

"Stumbling home drunk from the pub, everyone always wants a feed, but nothings open unless u wanna wait for the bakery, everyone should be saying yes to maccas in good old Yamba!!" one younger adult male wrote on a Facebook page after the news came out that McDonald's Australia had lodged a development application for a 24 hour drive-through fast food outlet in Treelands Drive.

He was not alone in marrying the idea of McDonald's and a feed after hotels and clubs close.
Indeed, there is one website catering "For people who got drunk and then ended up at McDonalds" and another called "There would be less drunk driving in the world if McDonalds delivered" which has over 217,000 registered fans.

Now charitable souls might think that statements like these probably wouldn't translate into action if Clarence Valley shire councillors voted to allow McDonald's Australia to go ahead and establish a 24 hour drive-through fast food outlet in Treelands Dive, Yamba.

However McDonald's does appear to attract the intoxicated and just plain irresponsible.

In 2010 the media has reported:
a) "A woman caught five times over the limit had been driving because she was hungry, Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday............pleaded guilty to high-range drink driving after she was caught on February 2 with a blood alcohol reading of .240.
The court was told that the Centrelink employee attended a ball in Woden on February 6 and consumed two bottles of champagne.The Chisholm resident, who recently purchased a property in Queanbeyan, caught a taxi home from the ball and then watched television for two hours before becoming hungry.
Intoxicated......drove two kilometres to McDonalds to purchase some food and was pulled over for a random breath test on her way home, the court was told.
It was said that her decision to drive was irrational and irresponsible and she regretted her actions.
The court was told she had no prior criminal record and only one infringement in 2001." [ The Canberra Times, 1 March 2010]
b) "No licence because he accumulated demerit points for various driving offences.......was pulled over by police on his way to McDonalds for a feed. "Which part of you doesn't get it?" Magistrate Maxine Baldwin asked him. "You lost six points for (a high-speed offence) and continued to speed until you lost your licence." [The Gympie Times,20 February 2010]

McDonald's Australia is well aware that it attracts alcohol and drug intoxicated people and The Daily Telegraph reported in December last year that; "Family restaurant McDonald's is hiring security guards, installing CCTV and vowing to not serve drunks to placate community anger over its plans to stay open all night."

One reader's comment attached to that particular article stated; "Just go to McDonalds Stanmore and see the result that 24 hr trading brings to the local community. Hoodlums, rubbish strewn all over the road and [what] seems like an endless stream of drunks after their binge drinking nights out."

Elsewhere another online reader lamenting a change in the McDonald's menu admitted; "My standard meal when drunk is a triple cheese meal, 6 nuggets with sweet chilli sauce. What to do now?"

While last year Cessnock residents went public with their concerns about a McDonald's already operating there; "She said residents already put up with drunks fighting, smashing bottles, damaging gardens and vomiting.
"These issues will worsen if there is an extension of the trading hours," Mrs Carter said. "We are already subject to unacceptable antisocial behaviour with people congregating in the McDonald's car park, bus shelters and nearby streets." [The Herald,8 October 2009]

At Twitter searching for "drunk at McDonalds" bring up pages of recent tweets such as these:

* 2.11 a.m. jenyie showed up at my door with half a litre of vodka and a twited katie. bout to get drunk then head to mcdonalds :D

* ahaha i did that at mcdonalds when i was drunk haha!

* 90 percent of ppl at this mcdonalds are drunk or high

* ordering at mcdonalds drunk is too fucking funny. i'm peeing this is too good.

Some background

• David and Goliath. Yamba versus McDonald's


• Gawd 'elp us! Maccas wants to invade Yamba

Gawd 'elp us! Maccas wants to invade Yamba

It's bad enough that Yamba is going through a bit of a bad patch which sees a clutch of small businesses up for sale. Now those mum and dad operated food outlets in its second shopping precinct are under threat, as that giant plastic food producer McDonald's has lodged a development application with Clarence Valley Council.

If the bush telegraph holds true, many Yamba-ites are not amused. I can't wait to hear from Maud!

"McDonald's Australia Limited lodged a development application (DA) with Clarence Valley Council this week for a 112-seat outlet, complete with drive-through, playground and McCafe, to be built on the Treelands Drive Cinema site.

The development, which received strong opposition from the Yamba Chamber of Commerce, would require the demolition of the current temporary cinema shed and the removal of some trees. An extension of the Coldstream Street cinemas was approved by council last week.

A 10-metre high, 3.6 metre wide giant M sign is also proposed for the new Maccas site, which will also provide 32 car parking spaces with access from Treelands Drive.

Yamba Chamber of Commerce president Daniel Reeves said he was 'completely against' a McDonald's coming to Yamba and he believed most of the chamber's membership would feel the same way because of the increased competition and the loss of the small town culture.

"I don't think it's the right time for Yamba to have a Maccas – I can't see a market in their demographic," Mr Reeves said.

"We seem to have a different culture in Yamba – not so much a chain culture, with a couple of exceptions ... it's about protecting the businesses we've got.

"Change such as this, it changes the economic status – if a place is big enough to have a maccas it loses that small town feel." {From The Daily Examiner on 24th March 2010}

McDonald's in Yamba..........
Allowing a McDonald's in Yamba would be a huge mistake for the town voted Best Town in Australia in 2009 - we need to protect the culture of Yamba that brings us so many tourists - a small, slow-paced, beachside town with an amazing coastline, great people and excellent dining options.
Yes, a McDonald's would provide a few jobs for young locals but also be aware that McDonald's restaurants generally use no local produce such as meat, bread, fruit or vegetables.
No local companies will provide any of the packaging, cardboard or paper used.
Also the restaurant will create a mass of rubbish - I can guarantee we will soon be seeing the golden arches floating in and on our beautiful beaches.
Also with the premises intending on being open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this will provide another hot spot for antisocial behaviour.
If you feel strongly about fighting this proposal of a McDonald's in Yamba, then you must act now and submit an objection to council before it is too late. We must make a stand .

NAME, ADDRESS SUPPLIED, Yamba. {The Daily Examiner letter to editor on 26th} March 2010}

Online poll in The Daily Examiner on the day article was published.

Remember this? "On March 31st 1999 the Court of Appeal added to those damning findings. Lord Justices Pill, May and Keane ruled that it was fair comment to say that McDonald's employees worldwide "do badly in terms of pay and conditions", and true that "if one eats enough McDonald's food, one's diet may well become high in fat etc., with the very real risk of heart disease." {McSpotlight press release on 6th May 2004}

Graphic found at Google Images

Is McDonald's Australia trying to hoodwink Clarence Valley Council?

Historical image of Treelands Drive and environs circa 2005
Click on image to enlarge

Eight (8) school buses use Treelands Drive, Yamba in the morning and three (3) school buses use Treelands Drive in the afternoon on school days.
Twelve (12) ordinary buses on the Yamba to Grafton and Return route move along Treelands Drive each weekday starting at around 7.15 am and ending at approximately 6.20pm.
On weekends and most public holidays these ordinary buses travel up and down Treelands Drive eight (8) times in total.
[Figures based on published timetable and telephone conversation with Busways,6 April 2010]

So there is a grand total of twenty-three (23) bus movements in Treelands Drive each Monday through to Friday in any normal week.

Evidently this road is generally thought to be the slowest section of the Yamba township bus route.

Why am I bothering to tell Clarence Valley residents something they all know or could find out with a single phone call to the Busways Yamba office?

Because apparently this simple piece of information was beyond the capabilities of McDonald's Australia when it presented a "Traffic Impact Assessment" to Clarence Valley Council, as part of its development application for a 24 hour eat-in and drive through fast food outlet in Treelands Drive.

This is what McDonald's asserts: "There is a bus shelter across Treelands Drive from the site with a posted timetable indicating Hail and Ride services, although it is unclear how the bus routes through the vicinity from Yamba Road." [McDonalds Australia Pty Ltd,Report for Proposed McDonalds Restaurant at 7 Treelands Drive Yamba, Traffic Impact Assessment, March 2010,p.11]

One would have thought that a timetable giving times for buses picking up and putting down "opp Bi-Lo" would have given McDonald's some hint - just as a sensible person would have expected that this large multinational would have thought to add school bus movements into the traffic mix.

But wait, there's more! McDonald's Australia thinks it is perfectly acceptable to expect that traffic flow (along Treelands Drive onto Yamba Road or Gumnut Road, up and down Osprey Drive, or along Gumnut through to The Halyard and down Shores Drive to Yamba Road) will go swimmingly, even with its own averaged prediction of anywhere between 180-230 extra vehicles per hour with an average maximum of 340 extra vehicles per hour in each direction along Treelands Drive. [ibid p.17]

How do we know all will be well? Why because McDonald's is using a 'guesstimate' (apparently based on one site visit) for how well the intersections at each end of Treelands Drive function at the present time; "Due to the absence of vehicle turning movement data for the intersection of Yamba Road/Treelands Drive and Treelands Drive/Gumnut Road, the intersections could not be assessed for existing operational performance." As well as relying on its own interpretation of a decade old Yamba Traffic Study to tick off on the proposed increase in traffic along Yamba Road generally in the vicinity of the shopping precinct. [ibid,p.10-11]

Now I haven't even begun to look at every aspect of the McDonald's/Clarence Property/Westlawn application because, with Council charging over a dollar per page for photocopying, I haven't had the luxury of bringing a copy of the entire Environmental Impact Statement etc. back home with me and so must return to read further.

However, if the aforementioned issues are an example of how McDonald's has approached the matter I am concerned that both the Yamba community and shire councillors are being fed a tissue of wishful thinking and possibly deliberate obfuscation.

This is one of those times that all current shire councillors should do more than open their business papers the night before or on the day of the monthly meeting and, seriously look at what McDonald's is asserting in the actual documents it has lodged.

The amenity of a significant section of Yamba and residents' ability to move easily/safely by car, bus or on foot, are two of the many things at stake because of this particular inappropriate development application.

McDonald's Australia spinning it's web around Clarence Valley Council

I don't know which is more disturbing - listening to one Clarence Valley shire councillor attempt to deny that the Yamba community has any right to self-determination or seeing the majority of councillors present fail to question McDonald's Australia when its representative spoke at the Environment, Economic & Community meeting on 11 May 2010.

With traffic a real issue for the community, McDonald's sought to 'massage' the matter away by trying to argue the statistics away.

It asserted words to the effect that the proposed store would never see 230 customers arriving by road in any one hour.

Of course what is did not clarify was that this 230 figure (contained in its own development application documents) represented vehicle movements both to and from this eat-in and drive through fast food outlet during evening peak hour.So in fact the number of individual vehicles would be 115.

McDonald's expects everyone to believe that a store with 112 seat capacity and 2 drive through bays would never see 115 people drive to its store at evening peak hour to pick up a quick dinner or eat one there?In a town which effectively doubles its population during principal tourism periods this would not be possible?

McDonald's start up cost estimates are hefty, so it defies belief that the multinational and its designated licensee would consider laying out that much money on a store they they suspected might under perform.

In Australia an average 1.2 million people reportedly went into a McDonald's store each day in 2007. As McDonald's had 753 stores across the country by that year [McDonald’s Australia Limited National Packaging Covenant Report 2007] this represents an estimated 1,594 customers per store.

With the Australian arm of the corporation continuing to experience increased sales and profits ($364 million profit last financial year) I expect that customer numbers have grown since then. McDonald's does not expect a store in Yamba to measure in its best performing global region?

Pull the other one it has bells on.

How McDonald's Australia makes its millions

 

On 27 April 2010 The Australian reported:

 

THE local arm of fast-food giant McDonald's doubled its profit last year to $364 million, despite reporting modest sales growth.

McDonald's Australia, which oversees almost 800 franchised restaurants around the country, reported a 6 per cent rise in sales revenue to $898m during the 12 months to December 31, on the strength of restaurant refurbishments and introduction of a premium range of products and healthier menu choices.

Overall revenue for the group rose 40 per cent to $1.7 billion, bolstered by a $308m payment for the sale of intellectual property rights to a related entity, McDonald's Asia Pacific.

This is how McDonald's Australia achieves those profits........

From Smart Company on 28 April 2010:

 

Fast-food giant McDonald's has been referred to the Fair Work Ombudsman for allegedly underpaying some of its workers, after the industrial relations commissioner has thrown out an agreement which would cover the company's 80,000 employees.

Commissioner Donna McKenna rejected a deal between the company and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, saying it fails a no-disadvantage test. The deal would have seen standardised conditions imposed in all states and territories, including rules for rostering, penalty rates and entitlements.

The no-disadvantage test states that employers may remove certain entitlements from work agreements but these must be offset by other benefits.

While McKenna wrote in her ruling that the agreement, which is 111 pages long, contains both advantages and disadvantages, it ultimately poses no net benefit for employees. She also suggested workers could have been underpaid, referring the matter to the Ombudsman.

"I have concluded the agreement would represent an emphatic diminution in overall terms and conditions for the employees who would be subject to its proposed operation," she wrote in the judgement.

"The Agreement not only fails to satisfy the no disadvantage test, on various levels it significantly compromises industrial standards that would be expected for agreement-reliant employees – considering, in particular, that these employees are mostly young and mostly casually employed."

Specifically, the judgement referred to situations that would have seen employees in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland receive pay rises below minimum pay deals over the three-year period of the proposed agreement.

From News Ltd's Business Smarts on the same day:

This year, McDonald's employees would have received the national minimum wage rise, less between $3.84 and $7.50 a week, depending on their state. McDonald's argued this was to offset other benefits.

From July 2011 and July 2012, the increases would be the minimum wage adjustment plus either $2 or $5, depending on the state.....

employees could be asked to work unlimited shifts without a break.

McDonald's employees out lobbying against Yamba community?

Does McDonald's at Grafton have its employees out lobbying against community opposition to the multinational's push for a 24 hour drive-through and eat-in fast food outlet in Yamba?

One has to wonder when the creator of the YES to McDonalds in YAMBA Facebook page (less than one thousand fans last time I looked) claims to hail from Maclean and not Yamba. While a brief Google search throws up a profile which appears to match this 'Brendan' and shows that a Maclean sports club to which he belongs is seeking business/corporate sponsorship and that he is touting for new business on his advertising website with its mimic URL which ironically seeks to feed off Yamba's established brand. More than a few of his Facebook page 'fans' obviously live in Grafton which just happens to be home to an existing McDonalds outlet.

At least one McDonald's employee is to be found on both the Yes site and the Facebook page NO to McDonalds in YAMBA (over 3,300 fans last time I looked) - talking up the 'benefits' of this multinational and verbally spitting at others.

Elsewhere on Facebook she describes herself as an "Area Assistant" with McDonald's in Grafton now on maternity leave.

This is how the Clarence Valley 'face' of McDonald's is presenting itself:

Bringing a McDonalds to Yamba is going to create great job opportunities for everyone but especially the younger generation. The younger generation that everyone complains about not working. Their options are either to travel or work in the local shops at Yamba. The small businesses will employ family or friends before... taking anyone in. A lot of them expecting to only pay people cash in hand. When business gets a bit tough, bring in the family to take over and cya later job. Some people seem to be carrying on about youth in Yamba not caring about working....Well i bet all the positions will get filled and a majority of the people will work hard.

Also, if people do end up overweight its their own bloody fault!!!!
What....People cant have self control over what they eat now, they have to blame that on someone else too???
I dont see anyone having a crack at all the unhealthy things sold in your Supermarkets or your oh so healthy fish and chip shops.......
McDonalds does have a healthy range as well..
I dont think that that is a fair arguement thats being put up...

Hmmm well doesnt this Nick Stone person think he is SO great. The reality is, he has to pick at peoples spelling mistakes, or if IPhones have spell check because he cant come up with any good reasons for a McDonalds not to be in Yamba!!
Ask him something, he wont be able to answer it.....He will only change the subject ...totally to try and put you down because he has nothing real to say....
Its great....Oh and then watch out for his friend Sharon Beel who will come to his side as she has nothing decent to say either...
Then when theyve had enough and realise they are losing, they will say its all a joke..But its not!
Haha......They are the JOKE!!!!

Haha.... You have got be kidding!! You are the middle age woman who is the joke!!!!!!Your theories make no sense, i think you may have a screw loose!!!
Thats the thing though, i dont run a small business...I havent said that i wanted too so why should i have to justify that to you?McDonalds will be making plenty of employment. Mst probably more that what a small business can make. A clever business person who owns/buys/ or builds a small business in a growing are should realise that bigger franchisees are likely to happen. I would think about that and what effect it would have on my business before i put myself in that position.

Late on 7 April 2010 this Grafton McDonald's employee also stated an intention to make a formal submission to Clarence Valley Council:
I wasnt quite sure what to write either. I just typed what i thought was good and sent a draft of it to yes2mcdonalds@gmail.com They will help :)

I strongly suspect that she may not think to declare the fact that she lives and works in the Grafton area or make her employment background clear in that letter/email to Clarence Valley Council.

Perhaps it's time that McDonald's Australia CEO Peter Bush had a word with his NSW North Coast licensees about their store managers and employees' extra curricular activities.

But perhaps not - after all this is the same McDonald's Australia which described its favoured licensee for the proposed Yamba outlet as coming from "the region" in an effort to convey a false impression that he is actually a permanent resident in the Clarence Valley.

Graphic from Google Images

Just when McDonald's felt it was safe to get back in the water the Yamba boycott shark begins to circle!

One Yamba resident went public with this statement during the week, in relation to the McDonald's Australia plan to impose itself on the small coastal town of Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River:

McDonald's incorporate all competition products into their stores. Over time they have gone from only selling burgers to competing against Subway with salad wraps and salad items. Then came the attached coffee shop and now free wireless to ensure that everyone has a "one stop shop", ensuring customers don't go anywhere else.
This is not about fair competition. It is about takeover. They don't want you to spend your money anywhere else. This is a long time business practice of McDonald's. Over the years I've studied the way they "compete" with other businesses.
Any business Macca's can incorporate into theirs, they will - as they want the entire market, not to share it.

Now which persons of influence made these remarks afterwards?

• Maccas certainly do know what they're doing and they don't care. Unlike our Chamber who do care about the small businesses. I commend Tania and the Chamber for their efforts and of course all the individuals such as yourself who also worked so hard. I only hope that the community will live by their convictions and boycott McDonalds Yamba. [my emphasis]
  
• An awful decision. There were compelling reasons to listen to, and take heed of, overwhelming community opinion.

McDonald's and it designated licensee may find the waters distinctly chilly when they enter this town.

Meanwhile, The Daily Examiner letters to the editor continue to berate Clarence Valley Council and McDonald's fifteen days after shire councillors voted:

Time to vote
THE Clarence Valley Council has recently voted in favour of a development application from a certain American hamburger chain. This is apparently against the wishes of the vast majority of the citizens of Yamba, who did not want this development to go ahead.
Firstly, there is a certain group of pro-development councillors who will vote in favour of any development application - no matter how inappropriate (eg. West Yamba Canal Estate). This group is closely aligned with Liberal/National parties and people know who they are.
The solution to this problem is just the next council election away.
Secondly, all is not yet lost for the residents of Yamba with regard to this development. You still have economics on your side.
If the worthy citizens of Yamba do not patronise this hamburger outlet you can be assured of one fact. It will not stay open very long. [my emphasis]
MICHAEL CASEY, Grafton

More on Maccas
I FEEL sadness and shame at the fact that our councillors have decided to go against the will of the people who elect them. More than nine out of 10 people who bothered to express their opinion about the McDonald's development proposal at Yamba were against it, yet the majority of councillors decided to approve it.
I understand the legal and financial implications of the case put forward to us: there is no point in wasting our money in a lost battle. Well, isn't there? The law is certainly something to be considered, with respect and with no frivolity.
However, our civil laws, I believe, didn't drop from the sky together with the 10 commandments. I like to think of our law as the worthy result of those people before us that fought for the justice of what they believed and came up with our laws as something to serve us as guidance and inspiration. Their inheritance to us.
Exactly the right that this decision is taking away from us: to fight for justice. The beliefs of the past cannot be necessarily imposed on the beliefs of the present.
When needed, laws have been challenged, laws have been changed, and laws have been proved to be wrong.
What right do our councillors have to take away from us our right to challenge a law, to fight for our beliefs? How can money be a consideration in what clearly seems to be an ethical issue for many ratepayers? This is precisely the kind of issue where I want my rates money that is paid to these councillors to be spent.
This is the kind of fight that makes me feel a worthy individual. This is where I don't want to give up. This easy surrender by our representatives is suppressing and depressing for our community at large (for nine out of 10 people).
Our councillors have decided that this is a lost battle from the point of view of the laws of the past denying us the right to fight a new battle to create the laws of the future. To them I say, even if a battle was going to be totally lost, even if an expectation was going to end in disappointment, our community, our men and women, the people you are there to serve, might prefer 1000 times just to be there, fighting and losing, holding their heads up with pride, rather than simply giving up. And if that costs us money, so be it.
Otherwise, why on earth do we bother to celebrate Gallipoli or to send our national soccer team to a World Cup final?
SANTIAGO ACERA, Lawrence

Highway an option
WHEN you look at the amount of accidents on the roads you really have to wonder at the Upper River and Lower River mentality - the one that we were assured would not exist - that has exhibited itself in the decision to approve McDonald's in Yamba. Not only is it detrimental to the ambience of the village and its tourist population from the cities, and to the local boutique businesses that give this town its special flavour. Byron Bay recognised this when it said "no" to drive-through restaurants.
But also, how short-sighted. McDonald's could be situated on the highway where it would provide a valuable rest point for motorists and give Maccas a better flow of people, and they would be able to offer 24-hour service. Families and groups travel the highway and a Maccas either north or south of the Clarence River would be able to service the highway travellers and both towns of Maclean and Yamba.
A Maccas on the highway would offer a well-lit, safe and fully staffed environment with food and facilities that would appeal to many people and encourage them to break their journey for a rest.
We know the long stretches of highways on the North Coast have a constant flow of traffic and have been identified as areas of major accidents. We need to have a 24-hour highway rest break here on the highway between Ballina and Grafton. This would also provide work opportunities for youth in the outer lying areas as well as those in the towns of Maclean and Yamba.
To the people at McDonald's, you have the opportunity not only to do the right thing, but also to take a more financially viable solution. Yamba simply does not have the static population in non-holiday times to support your business and the businesses that already service our town.
To our council and councillors, who are paid/elected to work on behalf of residents, what were you thinking? This matter needs to go back to council and a sensible decision taken, one that is better commercially for Maccas, better for the wider community, and shows that Maccas appreciates the real need that they could fulfil.
Councillors, you do have a responsibility to look after your residents and current business owners in Yamba who have stated their position quite clearly.
Now it is your turn to do something for everyone. Go back to Maccas with a solution to this divisive and damaging situation.
CATE CAPP, Yamba.

Maccas not winning hearts, minds or money in 2012

In April 2012 The Sydney Morning Herald showed that the McDonalds fast food behemoth is living in hope in southern climes:

AUSTRALIA'S love affair with Big Macs and french fries may be waning, with McDonald's growth in the region sliced by more than half.

The fast food giant's global chief operating officer, Donald Thompson, described the local market as ''challenging'' and getting worse.

To counter the sales downturn across Australian stores, McDonald's has introduced initiatives including the launch last month of its Loose Change menu, which offers a range of items under $2 and its Value Lunch deal.

Releasing its first-quarter earnings results in the US on the weekend, McDonald's said sales at its US stores were up 8.9 per cent for the quarter, while comparable-store sales rose 5.5 per cent in its Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region (APMEA), which takes in Australia………………….

Only a few years ago, following the global financial crisis, Australia was one of the best-performing regions for the restaurant chain. In 2009 the local operation posted sales growth of 6 per cent, nearly double the global rate of 3.8 per cent.

The stronger performance was driven by an image overhaul, including a revamp of its menu to offer healthier alternatives as well as gourmet-style burgers, such as the Angus Burger, which proved a big hit.

The Australian spokeswoman said the local business had improved in the past two months and managers expected it to match global growth rates as the year continued. McDonald's is estimated to have a 46 per cent share of the quick-service restaurant category in Australia. It is planning to open 35 stores this year to take its Australian portfolio to 900.

One could speculate that its ongoing heavy-handed site development tactics in the face of community opposition contribute to the sales down-turn it is experiencing.
However, customer dissatisfaction, as well as health and safety issues, also may play their part in this marked decline.

A McDonald's social media promotional campaign at the beginning of the year was pulled after two hours  and Twitter 'sanitised' because the company's hashtag #McDStoriese produced tweets like these. While its televised advertorial in the same month fell flat.

Again in January, Perth Now reported that McDonalds was being fined for more convictions concerning food quality and preparation. In NSW the company was fined in August 2011 for Fail to maintain the food premises to the required standard of cleanliness - accumulation of rubbish, food debris, grease and dirt on floor  and in March 2012 for Fail to maintain the food premises to the required standard of cleanliness - accumulation of dirt, grease and food waste, previous warnings given  at two of the fast food outlets it manages itself.

ABC News on 11 January 2012 also indicated that customers were being systematically defrauded by staff:

A 33-year-old man is on trial in the District Court in Perth accused of involvement in a multi-million-dollar card skimming scheme involving customers of fast food company McDonald's.

The scheme led to a total of $3.5 million being taken out of the accounts of thousands of West Australians.
It is alleged Navaneeth Ponnabalam was one of many people who took part in the scheme, which involved swapping EFTPOS pin pads at McDonald's stores with ones that could record the bank details of customers.
The court was told customers who used the drive-through had details of their accounts copied by the machines and then money was withdrawn from their accounts interstate and overseas.

In 2012 McDonalds outlets continue to attract antisocial and criminal behaviour, such as stabbings, robbery, violent confrontation with police and assault.

NSW Local Government Elections 2012 - forty-eight hours until close of nominations

UPDATED 8 August 2012

NSW local government elections are being held on 8 September 2012 and, nominations close a month earlier at noon 8 August.

Here in alphabetical order area is a list of known candidates standing for the nine Clarence Valley shire councillor positions and a brief backgrounder on each:

Andrew Baker –  Maclean real estate agent, land developer, former business partner of the NSW Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis, extensive native vegetation land clearing appears to be a feature of his development style, standing for local government on a pro-development platform, not known for community involvement outside the range of his business interests.

Jane Beeby - works in Maclean, opposed sale of part of Maclean's public carpark, states is standing on a platform of commitment to community consultation/transparent government, appears to be/have been a committee member of the Australian Vaccination Network (Association) which was part of a discredited anti-vaccination/anti-medical science lobby group which became the subject of a 2010 Health Care Complaints Commission public warning later successfully challenged in court by the group.

Jeremy Challacombe – local business man, operates both Grafton and Yamba growers markets, NSW Nationals former chair and now vice chair and former 2011 election campaign director for Chris Gulaptis MP, unsuccessful 2008 local government candidate, supported NSW National Party proposal to investigate turning coastal rivers inland long after Clarence Valley communities rejected the idea of damming and diverting the Clarence River or one of its tributaries, unsuccessfully opposed O’Farrell Government’s closure of Grafton Gaol.

Greg Clancy – Coutts Crossing-based consultant ecologist with a wide experience in flora and fauna assessment and a particular interest in North Coast birdlife.

Joy de Roos – In 2011 was listed as ALP Lower Clarence branch president, office bearer at a Maclean preschool and a services club, believes local government is no longer connected to community.

Craig Howe – Grafton High School teacher, currently Clarence Valley Council Deputy Mayor, unsuccessful independent candidate at NSW 2007 general election, voted for  McDonald’s fast food outlet in Yamba, does not have a reputation for giving community concerns serious consideration.

Sue Hughes – business woman, Yamba Chamber of Commerce vice president, current shire councillor who voted against McDonald’s fast food outlet in Yamba.

Jason Kingsley – Grafton business owner who states was on Grafton Gaol picket line, nothing yet known concerning his policy agenda.

Michael McIvor – South Grafton business owner, nothing yet known concerning his policy agenda.

Margaret McKenna – Grafton business owner, current shire councillor, voted for McDonald’s fast food outlet in Yamba citing its food as “nutritious”, comes across as very partisan and pro-Grafton City.

Rod Morrison - Brushgrove flood levee campaigner.

Paul Parkinson – admits to having contested 4 local and 1 state election, former Kempsey shire councillor, persistent complaints concerning council’s lack of community consultation/transparency coincided with his period in Kempsey local government, does not appear to be a Clarence Valley resident as he lists his place of residence as Sherwood in the Kemsey area.

Margot Scott - Yamba-based civil marriage celebrant, standing on a growth and prosperity platform as yet undefined.

Jim Simmons – Maclean business owner, current Clarence Valley shire councillor, formerly on Maclean Shire Council prior to amalgamation, voted for McDonald’s fast food outlet in Yamba, basically pro-development.

Ian Tiley – Maclean-based, current shire councillor, former Clarence Valley Council and Maclean Council mayor, made Emeritus Mayor in 2008 for over 40 years’ service to local government, voted against McDonald’s fast food outlet in Yamba, opposed proposal to dam and divert Clarence River water, appears committed to community consultation and transparent local government, not afraid to take community concerns into council meetings, unsuccessfully stood for Labor Party federal pre-selection in 2008.

Karen Toms – Lower Clarence business person, current shire councillor and former National Party 2011 pre-selection candidate, opposed McDonald’s fast food outlet in Yamba, has earned a reputation for listening to community concerns.

Ursula Tunks – South Grafton-based former local business owner, working towards forming a representative body to co-ordinate and assist the plans of diverse chambers of commerce across the Clarence Valley, resigned as an ordinary member of the NSW Liberal Party in protest at continuing NSW Coalition support of disgraced former Nationals MP for Clarence, Steve Cansdell.

Richie Williamson – current Clarence Valley Mayor and former National Party pre-selection candidate in 2011, voted for supported the imposition of a McDonald’s fast food outlet on an unwilling Yamba community, started off well when first elected as a councillor by initiating council’s response to the threat to dam and divert the Clarence River but appears to have become complacent over the years, unsuccessfully opposed Grafton Gaol closure.