McDonald’s goes for seconds in Newtown trading bid

McDonald’s has relaunched a bid to open a restaurant in the heart of Newtown, scaling back trading hours and tightening operational controls after the City of Sydney rejected an earlier proposal in the face of widespread community opposition.

Four months after a council planning panel refused the fast-food giant’s $1.7 million plan for a 24-hour outlet at 212-214 King Street, the company has submitted a revised development proposal aimed at addressing concerns raised by residents, business owners and NSW Police.

The original proposal sparked a strong backlash, attracting more than 1400 formal objections and two petitions signed by a further 3269 people. NSW Police were among those opposed, warning that a 24-hour McDonald’s could become a “flashpoint” for late-night disorder due to the site’s proximity to public transport and nearby licensed venues.

Under the revised plans, the restaurant would close at 11pm, Sundays to Thursdays, and 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, with the later weekend trading hours subject to a trial period.

The outlet would operate primarily as a takeaway venue, with seating for just 12 customers on the ground floor of the existing two-storey building.

Despite the concessions, opposition to the plans has not abated. Instead, the proposal has intensified debate about the identity and future of one of Sydney’s best known inner-city strips.

Local business owners and community groups argue that a McDonald’s would undermine Newtown’s independent character and accelerate what they describe as a “creeping commercialisation” of King Street.

The strip has not hosted a McDonald’s since the 1990s, and many residents see the return of the multinational chain as symbolic of broader changes reshaping the suburb.

Sylvia Tran, owner of nearby eatery Belly Bao, said the arrival of McDonald’s would “fundamentally alter” Newtown’s identity.

“McDonald’s is not just another restaurant – it’s a powerful multinational with resources that far exceed any local operator,” she said.

Concerns about competition are already acute along King Street, which some locals now refer to as a “chicken strip”. Within a 200-metre radius, at least six chicken-focused chains operate, including KFC, El Jannah, Gami Chicken & Beer and Wingboy.

Ogalo Newtown owner Razwan Raza, who has traded on King Street for almost a decade, said the impact of major chains was already being felt.

“KFC already affected us, and a McDonald’s will leave no other choice than to permanently close our business,” he said. “All the small restaurants will close.”

Others point to structural pressures affecting inner-city shopping strips, particularly rising commercial rents. Italian restaurateur Fabio Stefanelli, who has run La Favola in Newtown for the past 10 years, said that maintaining an independent business had become increasingly difficult.

“We all want to keep Newtown independent and unique, but the reality is rents have gone higher and higher,” he said.

“For family businesses to survive, you need to work extremely long hours just to stay afloat, and that’s why you see the same types of shops opening everywhere. Unless you’re a big player like McDonald’s, it’s incredibly hard to manage rent, supply costs and wages, all of which keep rising.”

Newtown resident Liam Coffey, who helped to organise a campaign against the original proposal, said he remained opposed to McDonald’s in principle but felt conflicted given the affordability crisis.

“As much as I don’t support McDonald’s, who else is offering $2 hamburgers? No one,” he said.

Coffey said the popularity of fast food highlighted a broader policy failure to provide affordable, healthy alternatives.

“In an ideal world we’d have food pantries or genuinely affordable healthy options, but what is the council or state government doing to make that happen? Nothing.

“When the cheapest option around is a kid’s meal at Guzman y Gomez, there’s clearly a problem.”

In refusing the original application, the City of Sydney cited concerns about operating hours, limited seating capacity, management of delivery riders, waste storage and collection, and the design of the street frontage.

The decision followed a similar refusal in May last year, when a proposed 24-hour McDonald’s in Redfern was rejected due to traffic, noise and operational impacts.

In its revised submission, McDonald’s said the reduced trading hours aligned with the council’s late-night trading controls and reflected feedback from police and the community.

A McDonald’s spokeswoman said the company had worked to address community and council concerns.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the council could only assess the development proposals against the planning merits of the application, as opposed to the “identity” of an applicant.

“While I can’t comment on the development application currently under assessment, I encourage the community to look at the plans and consider making a submission for the council to consider,” she said.

The City of Sydney will determine whether the revised proposal sufficiently addresses the reasons for refusal, with a decision expected later this year.

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