Residents stand firm against Macca’s, Murphy’s super-sized combo

Rosebery residents and businesses have continued to voice their opposition to plans by McDonald’s to build a restaurant adjacent to a Dan Murphy’s alcohol retailer on Botany Road.

A submission by the Rosebery Residents Action Group (RRAG) against the proposed development has fast attracted the attention of City of Sydney Councillors, giving the local movement a significant boost.

A spokesman for RRAG, Graeme Grace, said the residents’ main concerns were around the mix of the two outlets in very close proximity.

“We are not on a moral crusade against McDonald’s or Dan Murphy’s,” he said. “People in Rosebery eat McDonald’s and people here drink alcohol. We’re simply dead against the combination of the two.”

It is proposed that the two outlets will share a 76-space car park, on a cleared building site at the corner of Botany and Hayes Roads. The total cost of the development is currently estimated at $6.3 million.

In its submission to council, RRAG cites precedents from McDonald’s restaurants in surrounding suburbs, stating that even in the absence of an alcohol store, McDonald’s premises were known congregation venues for groups of youths and hot-spots for trouble.

The submission states: “The McDonalds restaurants at Waterloo and Eastlakes are not next to bottle shops, yet suffer crime problems. To deliberately ‘twin’ McDonalds with a bottle shop appears to be creating a situation that would exacerbate the expected crime and anti-social behaviour.”

According to the development application currently being assessed by council, MacDonald’s claims the Rosebery franchise would eventually replace the restaurant at Waterloo, only two kilometres away on Botany Road. It would come with the benefits of approximately 150 new part-time and full-time jobs, providing a shot in the arm for the area’s economy.

Life-long Rosebery resident and owner of a Shirley Street business, Steve McDermott, is sceptical of McDonald’s proposal to operate as a ‘family restaurant’.

“There’s no way that what was first proposed in the DA to council is what will eventually happen,” he said. “I don’t believe that they will remain closed between 1 and 5 (am). Once they’re in they’ll put in an application [to trade] for 24 hours.”

Mr McDermott, a former South Sydney Councillor, is leading a local committee of residents and businesses – independent from, but not exclusive of RRAG – in the fight against the development.

“I have spoken to Redfern police and they are firmly against it too. They have seen what happens at Waterloo and Eastlakes,” he said

“The Green Square precinct, which the Government has put a big focus on developing, will be massively dented by this,” he said, referring to locals’ concerns that a McDonald’s would severely impact the fledgling community culture in Green Square and Roseberry.

Mr Dermott was particularly worried about the fate of some local businesses – including an Italian Restaurant, a fish shop and a family-owned liquor store – which he believed would be under commercial threat from McDonald’s and Dan Murphy’s.

“There’s an independent café (“Espresso on Hayes”) on the corner right opposite the site,” he said. “What hope have they got?”

The public outcry has so far been met with supportive responses from a number of councillors.

In an email to RRAG, a spokesperson for Marcelle Hoff, Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney wrote: “Councillor Hoff is very concerned about this DA. This office is already tracking it. If City staff are not recommending that this DA be refused or modified under delegated authority, she will be asking her fellow councillors to join her in calling this DA to Committee.”

State Premier and local MP Kristina Keneally also responded to the submission by sending office staffers to attend and take note of issues at a meeting of local protestors.

Contrary to previous reports, Mr Grace reiterated that while McDonald’s, along with Dan Murphy’s, has offered to meet with representatives from RRAG and local police, no such meeting has yet been scheduled.

“I don’t think there’s much of a reason to meet right now,” he said.  “All the councillors have asked to be briefed on this issue and we’re hoping for a common sense outcome.”