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Hipsters will go head-to-head with Happy Meals in one of Sydney’s most vibrant entertainment strips after McDonald’s used a fast-track development process to take over the Oporto restaurant on Enmore Road.
The fast-food chain’s move into the heart of the Newtown-Enmore nightlife precinct comes after an earlier bid to set up shop on King Street was rejected twice and met fierce resistance from residents.
Long-time Newtown resident Lynn Stanton, who is among locals opposed to the chain’s arrival in the suburb, said she had never eaten McDonald’s in her life, and wasn’t about to start any time soon.
“I object to McDonald’s, full stop,” she said. “The way they’ve done it feels like coming through the back door so no one can even say they don’t like it … That’s wrong and spells greed and profit.”
McDonald’s on Friday began work at the Enmore Road site, one week after it abandoned a court case against the City of Sydney over the council’s refusal of a similar plan to build a store 500 metres away. At the time, the King Street proposal triggered a wave of backlash from residents, NSW Police, and business owners who said a McDonald’s store would erode the unique character of Newtown.
McDonald’s was last in Newtown in 1998, when a restaurant opened in 1982 by rugby league great Ron Coote closed its doors.
The multinational’s push into Newtown extends a citywide trend of fast food companies seeking to operate new outlets on local shopping strips despite community resistance. McDonald’s has made similar attempts to open in Crows Nest, Marrickville, Redfern, and the Central Coast, with mixed results.
McDonald’s lodged the $1.2 million Enmore Road plan with the Inner West Council via the fast-tracked complying development certificate pathway on September 21. A private certifier, not council staff, approved plans the next day. Construction on internal alteration work and the fit-out began on September 25. There are no plans to install a drive-through.
Unlike a typical development application, CDCs combine planning and construction approval for more straightforward developments, but some have criticised the process over a perceived lack of council oversight and consultation. McDonald’s used the same pathway to win approval for a controversial plan to open an outlet in affluent Crows Nest this year.
City of Sydney councillor Jess Miller said the fast-food chain’s use of the fast-tracked approval process could “really enrage people in the community”.
“It means an application doesn’t go on exhibition, it doesn’t go to a local planning panel, none of the issues are ventilated. Rather than going through a transparent assessment and consultation process, CDCs can be approved via a check-a-box exercise.”
Heleana Genaus, secretary of the Newtown and Enmore Business Community, said reactions from local shop owners were mixed.
“The reluctance is there are plenty of fast-food multinational chains, and more emerging every day. But many are also providing low-cost options for consumers – a Big Mac is probably sitting more where people’s budgets are.
“There’s no villain per se, and I don’t think it’s fair that McDonald’s is copping it because of that. They are just unemotionally responding to finding the right location to make some money,” she said.
However, Inner West Greens councillor Liz Atkins said McDonald’s was “getting a foothold in the area after previous experiences of community backlash in Newtown and Marrickville.”
A council spokesperson said they had “no legal grounds” to refuse the McDonald’s application, as it had to comply with state government legislation.
McDonald’s said the start of construction represented a “multimillion-dollar investment into the local economy and creating over 130 jobs for construction workers and restaurant employees”.
A company spokesman said the Enmore Road outlet, due to open later this year, would be operated by a local licensee committed to supporting the community.
“McDonald’s Newtown was approved through a complying development certificate (CDC) as the restaurant met all necessary guidelines under relevant legislation.
“We look forward to becoming part of the Newtown community when the restaurant opens.”
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Cindy Yin is an urban affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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