A council planner has recommended the proposed Wānaka McDonald’s restaurant be turned down weeks ahead of a hearing to decide whether it can set up shop in Wānaka.

More than 300 members of the public have already asked in public submissions that the McDonald’s be refused, with thousands more adding their names to an online petition against it.

It will be up to independent commissioners at a hearing at the end of the month to have the final say on whether McDonald’s Restaurants NZ can set up a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week restaurant and drive- through at Mt Iron Junction.

In the meantime Queenstown Lakes District Council senior planner Andrew Woodford has added his voice to the chorus of opposition in a recently released council report.

Andrew said the proposed 445m2 McDonald’s, which would be built on rural-zoned land at the foot of Outstanding Natural Feature (ONF) Mt Iron had a handful of “primary issues”.

They included the proposal’s effect on the rural character of the zoning, its “lack of integration into the site”, which he said “detracts” from the Mt Iron ONF, and other “adverse visual effects”.

The development, “urban in nature and scale”, does not respond appropriately to the context and location, he said.

While members of the ‘No-McDonald’s’ camp may support Andrew’s argument, he disagreed with many of the reasons submitters gave to oppose the McDonald’s - including the impact on local business and view that it would have a negative impact on Wānaka’s image as a whole.

It was “a matter of personal choice for customers as to where they may wish to purchase food”, he said, and hard to quantify the “potential adverse effects on the Wānaka image or ‘vibe’”. 

“If submitters are solely concerned that McDonald’s could be established in Wānaka, then such a development could occur as of right subject to zoning provisions either in Three Parks or the Wānaka Town Centre…”.

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McDonald’s plans for a Wānaka restaurant became public in November last year and the response has been deeply divided.

During public consultation earlier this year 340 people made submissions opposing a Wānaka McDonald’s and just 21 made submissions in support of it.

Common themes in formal submissions among people who oppose the proposal were concerns about litter and packaging, the financial impact on local food businesses, the nutritional value of McDonalds’ food, and the visual effect of the McDonald’s restaurant and signage at the ‘entrance’ to Wānaka.

The much smaller group who supported the proposal in formal submissions said it would provide employment opportunities, a rare alcohol-free environment for families, and an affordable option for takeaways.

More than 100 submitters plan to speak at the upcoming hearing, which will begin on November 25 and could last up to four days.

While the hearing will be over by the end of the month a final decision on the proposal won’t be made until after post-hearing deliberations by the commissioners.

PHOTO: Supplied