Great Ocean Road Town Threatened by McDonald's

Torquay, Australia, a town of some six thousand folk at the start of the fabled Great Ocean Road, is under threat of having a MacDonalds built in our midst. Our Municipal Council has approved a planning permit for the development and a noisy bunch of us locals are appealing this decision.

My particular grounds of appeal are based on wanting to maintain diversity in our town rather than monoculture. There is a reasonable expectation that small local food outlets will suffer at the hands of Mc'Donald'ss global advertising and conspicuous and ubiquitous signage. While economic competition in itself is not a planning consideration (and therefore cannot be considered at an appeal), a reduction in range and quality of food is a valid consideration. What I am arguing is that there may be adverse community impacts but Council have not even asked the proponent to demonstrate that there will not be any adverse community effects. Note also that Torquay is isolated being 20km from the nearest bigger town.

While not everyone in Torquay is opposed to a McDonald's in our midst, we do have quite a dedicated and well organised group.

Regards
John Budd