TVAG Opposes McDonald’s

Public Meeting a great Success !!

What’s Happening ?

McDonald’s Lodges Planning Application

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3MDR - Mountain District Radio

Movie Night Success

Rallying against McDonald’s

The announcement that McDonald's intends to establish a fast food outlet in Tecoma has raised a lot of opposition within the Hills Community. The Tecoma Village Action Group (TVAG), after consultation with the Community, decided to oppose the McDonald's proposal for many reasons. But, TVAG does not have exclusive rights to any opposition and thus there are other groups of individuals who are also conducting their own campaigns. It should be noted that TVAG decided not to be involved with the placing of placards on power poles or the unlawful erection of banners. TVAG has been conducting a graffiti clean up campaign and recently spent thousands of dollars in cleaning up Tecoma businesses and streets, including the power poles. As part of the graffiti clean up campaign, TVAG has been having discussions with SPAusNet and the Shire of Yarra Ranges and does not want this relationship to be damaged through the action of others.

Get informed, Get involved

Public formally Notified of McDonald’s Application

The Shire of Yarra Ranges has posted notices on the proposed site for McDonald's in Tecoma indicating that they have received the application details from McDonald's and the final stages of the battle have begun. The application documentation provided by McDonald's is now available for viewing at Shire Offices including the Link office in Upwey. People are encouraged to view this documentation and realise the impact that this development will have on the Hills.

McDonald's plan to operate 24 hours per day and 7 days per week, thus there will be no respite from the the noise or smells emanating from this establishment. Each night will be lit up by their advertising signs and car park lighting, no more walking through a Hills village and looking at the stars above the surrounding hills.

Get informed, Get involved

Basic Guidelines

Update from Information Evening

The Shire of Yarra Ranges hosted a drop-in information evening at the Monbulk Hub on Thursday 8th September from 5pm to 7pm. Planners, urban designers and traffic engineers from both the Yarra Ranges Council and McDonald’s were there to provide information on the application. Councillor Samantha Dunn was also there to listen to community concerns.

The Planners are working to bring the application to Council on Tuesday 27th September but more time than expected is needed by Councillors to read the planners’ recommendations. Thus the planners’ report will be completed some time in the week of Monday 12th. Later submissions, up until Council’s decision may not have any impact upon Council but will still register you as a party to the dispute and thus you will be informed should the matter go to VCAT. Submit NOW!

Get informed, Get involved

Updated Basic Guidelines

Public Meeting Update

TVAG called another Public Meeting to provide advice to residents and Hills visitors on how to best focus their objections, and to show community unity in our objection to this inappropriate development proposal.

A determined group of well over 150 people listened to James Merlino, MLA; Councillor Samantha Dunn and Claire and David from TVAG for more advice on focussing objections at this time to maximise the impact of our opposition to McDonald’s in the Hills.

Check out the video ------------------------------------->

Public Meeting was held:

                Sunday September 11th

                3:00pm - 4:30pm

                Tecoma Primary School

Film Night - 16th September

You were invited to show your support for the campaign to stop the expansion of McDonald’s into the Dandenong Ranges by joining us to watch “Supersize Me”.

Magpie House

Main Street, Upwey

Friday 16th September 2011

7:30pm for an 8:00pm rolling of the film

$10 Entry

This film was part of a great evening’s entertainment. If you wanted to know what else was happening, then please follow this link to Magpie House

Fund Raising Concert

McDonald’s have lodged their reports on traffic, lighting, exhaust fumes and other reports that need professional countermanding and thus TVAG conducted a star - studded fundraising concert. Put the date in your diary.

Concert:

                Saturday October 1st

                7:30 pm

                Burrinja Cafe

Artists:

                Coen Dixon

                Stax

                Penelope Swales

                Tracey Roberts

                Phil Smith

                Trio - Michelle Chandler, Stax, Zoltan Almady

Tickets:

                $15 at the door

TVAG acknowledges the generous donation and assistance of Ferntree Print with our concert printing. Thanks Bernard!

TVAG also gives a BIG THANK YOU to the artists who supported this fundraiser. Please support them by visiting their websites and buying their CDs.

Continue Improving your objection

The State and Local Planning Policy Frameworks under which a development is accessed is a 917 page complicated document. We have attempted to provide you with some additional information of a more technical nature here so as to improve your objection.

We have also made available the basic text of the TVAG Objection.pdf to assist you. If you want the entire document (20MB), get it here: TVAG_Objection.pdf.

At the public meeting at Tecoma Primary School on Sunday 11th September, our local traffic management engineer, Claire, presented some very valid points relating to traffic impacts. A summary of her presentation is available here: TVAG - Traffic Areas of Concern.pdf.

If you have already sent in your objection you can still send in additional information on how this development will affect you, or you could help another family member with their objection. Please send a copy of your objection to the Planning Officer & each Councillor. See below!

Councillor Contact Details

Please send a copy of your submission to each of the 9 Councillors in the Shire of Yarra Ranges. These are the people who will ultimately make the decision about the McDonald’s development and therefore each and every one of them needs to know what you think and feel.

Councillor Terry Avery            t.avery@yarraranges.vic.gov.au

Councillor Noel Cliff                n.cliff@yarraranges.vic.gov.au

Councillor Tim Heenan           t.heenan@yarraranges.vic.gov.au                      P.O.Box 105

Councillor Chris Templer        c.templer@yarraranges.vic.gov.au     or             Lilydale

Councillor Jeanette McRae    j.mcrae@yarraranges.vic.gov.au                         Victoria, 3140

Councillor Richard Higgins     r.higgins@yarraranges.vic.gov.au

Councillor Graham Warren    g.warren@yarraranges.vic.gov.au

Councillor Len Cox                l.cox@yarraranges.vic.gov.au

Councillor Samantha Dunn    s.dunn@yarraranges.vic.gov.au

The Shire of Yarra Ranges Council is now set to consider the planning application of McDonald’s to build their first outlet in the Dandenong Ranges at 7:45 pm on October 11th, 2011. Due to the expected number of objectors, Council has decided to move the meeting to “York on Lilydale”, corner York & Swansea Roads Mt Evelyn, a venue which will be able to accommodate the expected numbers.

Council to Consider McD’s Application

It is extremely important that everyone comes along to the Council Meeting on October 11th (see above) in order to show your objection to the McDonald’s application. McDonald’s have been conducting a “phoney survey” and are likely to use their biased results to show Tecoma actually wants them here. Come, bring a friend, and show Council that the whole Dandenong Ranges are against this development.

Show your concern

Shire Planning Department Decision

The Shire’s Planning Department have presented their decision to Councillors and have disappointingly recommended that Council APPROVE the application by McDonald’s to build an outlet in Tecoma.

You can read the planning departments submission here:

http://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/files/c8e337f0-4784-4925-a2f4-9f7201122ce3/11-10-11Item8-1.pdf

It is now even more important that you and all of your friends attend the Council meeting on Tuesday 11th October at 7:45pm at “York on Lilydale” (see below).

Also call your local Councillor and tell her/him that the Shire’s Planning Department response is inadequate and has not checked the data presented by McDonald’s, but blindly accepted it. For just one of many examples, McDonald’s stated that the public accessible floor area is only 100 square metres and therefore only 4 staff bicycle parking spots are needed. But anyone with a primary school ruler can measure the plans and see that the area is over 200 square metres. This means 8 spots are required AND provision MUST be made for shower and changing facilities.

Thus the Planning Department is supporting McDonald’s policy of handling and serving food by sweaty kids without the provision of showering or changing facilities.

Shire Council Decision

The Shire Councillors are to be congratulated upon making a unanimous decision in refusing to grant the planning application by McDonald’s to build in Tecoma.

In front of a record crowd of over 600 people, the Shire of Yarra Ranges Council this evening voted unanimously to NOT grant a permit to McDonald's. This was in light of over 1100 individual objections being received by Council (the most ever received on any planning issue) and 8 letters in support for the development. The people and Council have spoken, we certainly hope that McDonald's have listened and decide not to waste their time and resources, and that of the Community's, in taking this issue any further to VCAT. As a responsible corporate citizen who puts the wishes of their customers and the public ahead of dollars, this should be the end of the issue.

The “Letter”

At the Council meeting on Tuesday 11th October, Councillor McRae read a passage from a letter that Councillors received from McDonald’s just prior to their consideration of the application. Councillor McRae questioned the McDonald’s representative about this letter, available here.

Many Councillors saw this letter as a threat, particularly dot point 4. Councillor McRae ‘threw the ball back into McDonald’s court’, suggesting that they would be better able to help the community by not going to VCAT and donating those funds to community projects.

Dot point 5 is also considered a threat to our community.

There is a rumour that McDonald’s placed an application for consideration to VCAT before Council even had an opportunity to consider the matter. Again, showing total disrespect for our democratic processes. If anyone has VCAT contacts to confirm this, please let us know.

TVAG believes that Council has made the correct decision based solely upon planning issues raised by objectors to the application and is 100% confident that VCAT will, as they have done previously, find again that developments that do not fit the criteria for our Neighbourhood Activity Centre will be refused.

If you consider the above letter to be disrespectful of our democratic process and an insult to our community, then please write to McDonald’s and let them know your opinion. Remind them that disrespectful businesses do NOT receive your custom, not here nor anywhere else.

Contact newspapers, radio stations and other media and tell them of your disapproval. Use media Facebook pages, letters to the editor, etc.

What Next ?

There is a small window of opportunity to encourage McDonalds to not proceed with this application.  We ask you to write a letter to the CEO of McDonalds within the next week, and CC to Ferntree Gully McDonalds (the potential franchisee of Tecoma McDonalds).  Address and email details:

Ms Catriona Noble

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

McDonald’s Australia

Head Office

21-29 Central Avenue

THORNLEIGH   NSW   2120

Email:                        catriona.noble@au.mcd.com

CC to:

Mr. Howard Armitage

Caracal Investments Pty Ltd

Ferntree Gully McDonald’s

740 Burwood Highway

FERNTREE GULLY   VIC   3156

Email:            customerfeedback@caracal.net.au

Below are some suggested dot points you may wish to include in your email/letter.  Please add any other points you wish. By using your own words, the readers are more likely to read each response. Please be polite.

1. •The people of Tecoma and the Dandenong Ranges have spoken.
   

1. •We have presented clear arguments that the proposal does not meet the Shire of Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme. Council unanimously refused the application.
   

1. •This application has already caused damage to your corporate reputation.
   

1. •I was very disappointed with the letter sent by McDonalds to the council and tabled at the council meeting. This letter has done significant damage to your corporate image. I suggest that this does not reflect well on your organisational culture.   
   

1. •If McDonald’s continue to pursue with the Tecoma and Dandenong Ranges application there will be further damage to your brand.
   

1. •I am an existing McDonald’s customer and buy McDonalds at various stores including Ferntree Gully and Boronia.  If you proceed with this application I can assure you that I will not go to another McDonalds store.  I shall also encourage my friends and relatives to follow in my steps.
   

1. •We are a determined, passionate community and we will continue to campaign against this application for as long as it takes.
   

1. •We encourage you to not proceed further with this application and respect the wishes of our community.
   

NEXT STEPS

McDonalds may decide to lodge an appeal to VCAT against the Council decision.  If they do this, every objector can register to be part of the VCAT hearing.  This does not obligate you to attend or present but will be another demonstration of community opposition to this application.  More details will follow.

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