A local council in Australia has vowed to fight McDonald’s expansion in their area over fears that people will become too obese.
According to the reports, the McDonald’s branch located in the suburb of Cremorne, Sydney, has filed plans to “super-size” its restaurant’s drive-thru by building a new dual-lane that could serve up to 14 additional people at a time.
While the restaurant already presented the local authorities with their $550,000 renovation plan, the local health district hit back and vowed to fight the expansion in order to get the restaurant banned from proceeding according to their plans.
As the officials argued, easier access to fast food will likely result in increased obesity and “is unlikely to result in positive population health outcomes.”
“There is a concern that increasing accessibility to fast food, via an expanded drive-through, may negatively influence the eating habits of children and adults, and undermine existing population health strategies to tackle obesity,” Northern Sydney Local Health District said.
“Data from the Australian Urban Observatory shows that Cremorne already has more than adequate access to fast food. Providing greater access to fast food via an expanded, dual lane drive-through is unlikely to result in positive population health outcomes.”
As the health district’s senior managers elaborated, the expansion would mean people eating at McDonald’s are more likely to visit the restaurant in a car rather than on foot or via bicycle once the waiting time at the drive-thru is minimized.
They also pointed out that the restaurant’s proximity to the Cremorne Community Health Centre poses a problem.
Responding to the backlash, McDonald’s insisted they offer a variety of healthy options that are being made “more accessible and convenient for our customers and crew.”
“McDonald’s has been part of the Cremorne community for more than 40 years. We are reinvesting into the restaurant to make it more accessible and convenient for our customers and crew,” a spokesperson said.
“Throughout the pandemic, we experienced a considerable increase in drive-through numbers. An additional lane will improve efficiency and reduce traffic congestion for our customers.”
They added: “In the last two years, there has been an increase in transactions in the drive-thru of 8.3 percent which has been offset by a reduction in over-the-counter sales.
“The second drive-through lane will substantially increase the queuing capacity of the operation and provide a second point of order and will minimize the queuing impact on the internal carparking area, reducing congestion and reliance on carparking.”
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