Yamba chamber vice-president Tania Williams, Janet Purcell and others present petitions to council general manager Stuart McPherson. "Eighty per cent of Yamba's population and a majority of the chamber of commerce members are saying no to McDonald's," Ms Williams said.Yamba residents have posted on Facebook, blogged, written letters to editor, taken out newspaper ads, worn their opposition on T-shirts, signed petitions in their thousands and made submissions to Clarence Valley Council by the 23 April 2010 deadline, in order to oppose the McDonald's Australia development application for a 24 hour eat-in and drive-through fast food outlet in Treelands Drive, Yamba.
There is at least one site inspection, planning committee meeting and a monthly council meeting to go and, as yet it is still not clear that those shire councillors who have been quietly supporting McDonald's (and its politically connected backers) have even paused to think what around 80 per cent community resistance means for the future of local government in the Lower Clarence.
With only eight of the nine shire councillors eligible to consider this application, Mayor Richie Williamson will also be risking his reputation and possibly any political future he may hope for if the ballot is so tight that he must use his casting vote.
As more than one former shire councillor would be able to recall - Yamba never forgets.
Photograph from The Daily Examiner
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