“We Will Close Next Day” — Despair As McDonald’s Resurrects Newtown Proposal
Image: Spot the Macca's in this 1995 picture. City of Sydney Archives
The Newtown site at which McDonald’s is again seeking to set up shop is surrounded by thriving restaurants, pubs and other eateries.
Next to it is Clem’s Chicken Shop. Broaster Chicken is just across the street. But, this is a place in motion. Last year, the American fast-food juggernaut KFC controversially pitched itself just 150 metres up King Street.
The Newtown staple Big Daddy’s was a minute away in the other direction, past Cooper’s Hotel. Once thriving, the diner sits empty, the door locked. It closed abruptly last year. Nearby, Anonymous Milkbar served its last customers the year before.
McDonald’s sought to open up in Newtown last year, but the contentious development application was rejected by the City of Sydney. In response to criticisms, the company has made a number of changes to its original proposal. It is no longer pursuing permission to operate around the clock.
Back to the future if McDonald’s approved
Newtown regulars and locals bemoan every change that ebbs away at the high street’s established character as a home for independent businesses, alongside the odd smaller chain, such as Oporto and El Jannah. The neighbourhood’s uniqueness is vigorously defended by its young, artsy devotees, the masses who gravitate to it. Many of them are students at the nearby University of Sydney.
Yet, if one goes back in time, then one will discover that these global behemoths are only returning to an old haunt. Kelly’s on King, the popular Irish pub, was a KFC restaurant in the seventies and eighties. McDonald’s was on the strip, too. The famous logo adorned the Bank Hotel, advising oncoming motorists that freshly-cooked, familiar food was ahead.
One reader, identified only as Leah, was prompted by a previous City Hub article to reminisce about what once was. “Macca’s was a cultural icon, a safe space and hideout for us teenage misfits of the Newtown nineties.”
“Losing our Timezone opposite hit us hard, but when we lost our Macca’s, it was like we all became simultaneously homeless. Gentrification killed so much of the eclectic mashup that made Newtown so unique.”
Chicken shop expects to close if McDonald’s opens
How the times change! As of late, the phrase “keep Newtown weird” conveys opposition to KFC and McDonald’s. Those chains are part of the neighbourhood’s history; however, younger Newtonians prefer to keep it that way. Their successors are the backdrop to newer memories, for anyone that has drunkenly, loudly whiled time away in the Kelly’s smoking area, or resorted to Clem’s in search of intoxication-busting sustenance. A love of the present stands in contrast with a pining for the past.
Broaster Chicken Shop did not mince words about the perceived threat to its existence. “Once McDonald’s gets approved then Broaster will shut down, next day,” the outlet told this masthead.
“No reason” for Newtown outlet, says local
‘Raq the Clown’ is one 20-something Newtown regular, who last year hosted a weekly music bingo night at Kelly’s, and who hosts the ‘Klown Karaoke’ show at the Enmore Hotel. “There’s no reason for there to be a Macca’s in Newtown,” she said.
“There’s already so many food options on King Street to choose from — smaller businesses that deserve the utmost business. Newtown is better than this.”
Greens MLA Jenny Leong represents the electorate of Newtown. A regular participant in pro-Palestine protests, her objection is political.
“Like so many in the Inner West who want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza and of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, we are deeply concerned by the prospect that McDonald’s — a target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement — could be opening in the heart of our community.”
“McDonald’s has provided the Israeli Defence Force with free meals in the midst of ongoing ethnic cleansing and forced starvation in Gaza. This is clearly not a good fit for our Newtown community.”
The corporation’s Israeli franchise provided thousands of free meals to the country’s soldiers in October 2023. This was in the immediate aftermath of the 7 October Hamas-led slaughter, and at the onset of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. The act continues to be decried by activists.
The City of Sydney invites public feedback as it assesses the latest proposal.
