Last week ABC National covered the recent development consent for a McDonalds outlet in the Adelaide suburb of Woodville. The outlet is directly opposite a primary school. Parents and the community more generally raised strong concerns about the possibility of an increase in obesity in the area, in part because of schoolchildren’s access to this McDonalds outlet.

You might be thinking; residents all over Australia often cite concerns about childhood obesity as objections to McDonalds, yet this has no impact on the consent process, because typically it is outside the remit of what the courts, such as South Australia’s Environment, Resources and Development Court (ERD) and NSW’s Land and Environment Court can consider.

In other words, the health impacts of easier access to fast food have never been considered grounds for challenging a development consent for a McDonalds before, so what’s changed?

Well, for the first time, a judge in the ERD has agreed to consider evidence regarding nutrition and obesity under a section of the local development plan, the section that provides for the protection of “community health”.

More broadly, Professor of Public Health John Coveney on website The Conversation with the evidence, May 18 stated that the newly minted South Australian Public Health Act 2011 allows for the ‘precautionary principle’ to give weight to public health concerns. Or more simply, it recognises that absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence.

Both of these legal developments show that concerns about the impact of fast food on public health are being taken more seriously.

The result of the appeal against the McDonalds’ development consent in Woodville, SA is still with the court. But even if the opponents lose the battle and the outlet is approved, the case opens the door for arguments about nutrition, obesity and public health to be considered in appeals against fast food giants such as McDonalds.

PLANS for a 24-hour McDonalds drive through at Eastlakes were refused today when the Land and Environment Court ruled in favour of Botany Bay City Council’s decision to dismiss the fast food giant’s development application.

“This is a vindication of council and the residents,” a spokesman for Botany Bay Council said of the result.

Residents surrounding the site had opposed the plan, citing noise impacts and concerns about the restaurant acting as a honeypot for antisocial behaviour.

From the Southern Courier here

There are only a couple of days left to comment on Eurobodalla’s Strategic Plan. This document will inform LEPs (Local Environmental Plan*) in the future. It should therefore reflect the sort of future residents want for their Shire.

You can read the draft strategy here and you can make a submission at the Council offices in Vulcan Street, Moruya

*LEPs govern development, what can and cannot be built in the shire, and where.

Council staff wary of Bega Maccas plan

ABC News July 21, 2011 11:13:24
The Bega Valley Shire Council’s planning department says a ban on a national fast-food outlet in the Bega CBD, on the New South Wales far south coast, could enhance the town’s image.

A council report says the Bega commercial area is in line to become one of the few centres in Australia without a McDonald’s restaurant, making it a selling point for the area.

Hugh Pity is leading the fight against the franchise and says councillors should heed the staff’s recommendation, given the significant public opposition.

He says the council should look at allowing the development in a more appropriate location.

“There are some planning policies adopted by our Bega Valley Shire Council back in 2006 looking forward to a Bega bypass and identifying suitable sites for that kind of 24/7 fast food takeaway drive in operation,” Mr Pitty said.

The closer you live to a fast food outlet, the more serious the impact on your health, according to a recent US study picked up by the The Sydney Morning Herald today.

A study in the United States has found that the closer you live to a fast food outlet, the more likely you are to eat there.

However people who lived closer to supermarkets, with their shelves of fruit and veg alongside convenience foods, were no more likely to make healthier meal choices.

The researchers found those who lived in lower income areas tended to eat at fast food restaurants more regularly than others.

This was particularly true for low-income men who lived between 1.0km and 2.99km from a fast food outlet.

This finding is not new, many studies have identified a link between the location of fast food outlets and obesity in the surrounding population. For instance, this paper, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine (2005) found a link between the number of McDonalds restaurants and obesity in surrounding neighbourhoods in Scotland and Northern England.

Closer to home, in Melbourne, Australia, researchers found a link between low socio economic status, the clustering of fast food outlets and obesity. The prevalence of fast food outlets in poor areas created ‘obesegenic’ environments, that is, environments that contributed to obesity.

These studies tell us what we already know, that fast food outlets located in poor areas with poor access to a range of healthy food contribute to rates of obesity. And, as we all know, obesity is an increasingly dangerous public health problem. Governments like Australia’s have moved to control or restrict other damaging products, such as smoking or alcohol, yet plainly ignore the dangers posed by fast food. Many Councils in NSW have requested the that NSW Planning enable them to write stronger Local Environmental Plans that would restrict the location of fast food outlets. As yet, their demands have gone unmet.

What can you do?

Write to your local representative in State government and tell them you want your local Council to be able to make decisions about the location of fast food outlets in your local area. Urge them to push changes to State legislation governing the location of fast food outlets.

Effectively, yes.

Two days ago Ashfield Municipal Council (Sydney),

“…proposed tough, new development restrictions that are almost impossible for drive-throughs to meet, effectively banning them. New drive-throughs cannot be located “on a corner block” or be “visible from an adjacent streetscape”.

This amendment will not outlaw fast food restaurants altogether, but significantly restricts their location, so much so it is unlikely that large outlets, such as McDonalds, would attempt to open an outlet in the area.

Happy Meal website: Advertising direct to children

McDonalds claim that their website, HappyMeal.com (pictured above) is not  directed at children. One glance at the website demonstrates that this is patently misleading. The Cancer Council (NSW) has complained to the Advertising Standards Bureau that:

• The website is marketing communication to children that promotes McDonald’s Happy Meals
• The website does not represent healthier choices, in accordance with nutrition criteria in the QSRII
• The website features popular personalities or licensed characters and characters from children’s films
• The website promotes premium offers (toys offered free with Happy Meals)

If you would like to support their complaint then you can add your name to a petition here.

It should be a matter of public record that McDonalds Australia are clients of Australian PR company, PPR. PPR’s other clients include Diabetes Australia.

It’s probably fine, right?

Moruya High School students Frankie Coen, Kate Holder and Felix Ziergiebel present the petition to ESC

Moruya High school students Frankie Coen, Kate Holder and Felix Ziergiebel presented a petition against a McDonalds in Moruya to Eurobodalla Shire Council Tuesday morning. With over 2400 signatures, from both local people and tourists, the petition provides ample evidence that there is vehement support for keeping the Clown out of Town.

The students described the negative impacts associated with a McDonalds opening in a small town like Moruya. They were erudite spokespeople and dealt with prickly questions from Councillors, such as Clr. Keith Dance, with aplomb.

South Los Angeles City Council recently passed legislation banning the development of any new fast food franchises in their jurisdiction.

Los Angeles is making one of the nation’s most radical food policies permanent by effectively banning new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles, a huge section of the city that has significantly higher rates of poverty and obesity than other neighborhoods.

A handful of much smaller cities have enacted similar regulations for primarily aesthetic reasons, but Los Angeles, officials say, is the first to do so as part of a public health effort. The regulations, which the City Council passed unanimously last month, are meant to encourage healthier neighborhood dining options. Supporters envision more sit-down restaurants, produce-filled grocery stores and takeout meals that center on salad rather than fries.

Source: NYTimes January 15 2011

This is yet another example that communities recognise the undeniable negative social impacts of fast food outlets. However, in this American case, local government is empowered to make decisions in the interests of the health of the community. Not so in Australia.

At a recent protest against a development application for a McDonalds in Bega, Dr John Kaye of the Greens urged the NSW government to take obesity and diet related diseases seriously and [give] “…councils like Bega Valley better guidance and more grounds to reject applications like this one.”

The spread of fast food outlets isn’t just a local issue, its a state issue. Ultimately, the state government draws up the parameters of your local planning legislation. So get on the phone and give them a spray! If you’re in the Bega electorate, (Moruya!)  Andrew Constance (LIB) is your man, phone (02) 6492 2056. Or you can email him:

office@constance.minister.nsw.gov.au

He loves the attention!