Maccas plan attacked
Dozens of Secret Harbour residents are outraged at a proposal to build a fast food restaurant on a plot of land previously earmarked for a police station.
The proposal for a McDonald's restaurant at the corner of Warnbro Sound Avenue and Oneida Road - with a drive-through planned for the latter - has been met with objections from neighbours in the quiet street, who are concerned about increased traffic, antisocial behaviour, litter and unpleasant odours.
Householder Justin Ainge said residents felt cheated and conned over a lack of community consultation and hoped the fast food giant would consider ammending plans to place the restaurant further away from homes. "We were shocked to find McDonald's was mooted to be constructed literally 100 metres from homes," he said.
Rockingham Mayor Barry Sammels said advertising was not required because the proposal met with the scale identified for the site by the Local Commercial Strategy and the planning policy for Secret Harbour Town Centre.
A spokeswoman for McDonald's Australia said it was a tenant in the redevelopment of the Secret Harbour Shopping Centre and had little control over the centre design.
She said independent traffic studies showed the road network was capable of handling the proposed traffic volumes after the McDonald's restaurant opened.
Warnbro MLA Paul Papalia said the building of a McDonald's added insult to injury, after plans for the police station were scrapped.
The proposal will go before the Metro South West JDAP on Monday next week.
