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.
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