Council to reject Maccas in Rosebery

The City of Sydney has firmly indicated that it will refuse McDonald’s’ development application (DA) to build a restaurant adjacent to a Dan Murphy’s alcohol outlet in Rosebery.

The decision was confirmed by several Councillors and McDonald’s will now have the option of appealing the decision in the Land and Environment Court or re-applying to council with an alternate proposal.

Spokesperson for the Rosebery Residents Action Group (RRAG), Graeme Grace, said the community was delighted with the outcome and felt they had achieved their objective in derailing what was perceived to be a troubling combination.

“We are not, in principle, opposed to McDonald’s building a restaurant in Rosebery,” said Mr Grace.

“If they were to come back to us with an amended proposal in future, we would give it due consideration. The problem here was that we were led to believe it would be a family restaurant and corporate headquarters, without a bottle shop next door.”

“Our primary concerns are trading hours and traffic and parking implications,” he said.

While no notice of determination formalising the decision has yet been released by Council, most Councillors have told the community that they would refuse the DA.

A spokesperson for Greens Councillor Chris Harris, wrote in an email to RRAG last week: “We had previously advised you that the DA would go to committees but councillors have now received a briefing that informs them that staff have recommended refusal for the DA under delegation.”

But there are rumours within the community that McDonald’s is now seeking out an alternative partner for the site.

“We would be absolutely willing to talk to McDonald’s about bringing a different partner to the project,” said Mr Grace.

The fast-food giant had planned to build a late-trading franchise which would share a 76-space car park with Dan Murphy’s igniting a sustained local campaign by businesses and residents to oppose it. The project was estimated at $6.3 million.