UPDATE ON THE McDONALDS DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL FOR BIRKDALE FAIR SHOPPING CENTRE

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Summary of current status: (for those who are time-poor) 13/02/2020

1. Residents delivered 771 online petition signatures, 81 individual submissions and dozens of comments on Facebook and the Website opposing the McDonalds development proposal.

2. The Local Action Committee provided the RCC Planning team with a detailed submission outlining the major issues with the proposal. 

3. RCC Planners requested further information from the Developer to be provided by the 5th of February.

4. The Developer met (the week before the deadline) with local Councillor Paul Bishop who outlined the community concerns.

5. The developer then requested a further extension until the 29th of April to resubmit.

6. The RCC Planning team agreed to the extension.

7. The Local Action Committee is disappointed RCC did not reject the proposal based on developers failure to answer the queries thereby sending a message to developers inadequate applications will be rejected.

8. As the extension date is after the election, residents should now ask all candidates, including Mayoral, what their position is on the development.

Detailed update:

After the initial receipt of the development proposal MCU19/0142, the Redlands City Council (RCC) planning team had questions for the developer which were answered on time. However, the planning team required more information and an extension of time was negotiated with the Developer until the 5th of February (last Wednesday). During this period Councillor Paul Bishop advised that he was personally "calling in" the proposal so that it would be dealt with by full Council and not decided solely by the Planning team. This escalated the importance of the decision and the Committee thanked Councillor Bishop for his actions.

Prior to that deadline (5/2/2020) the Developer, Consultant and McDonald's representatives requested a meeting with local Councillor Paul Bishop. Councillor Bishop outlined the Community concerns and advised them RCC had received 771 petitioners, 81 written submissions and dozens of Facebook and website comments. The Developer believes that their proposed location is the only site that the McDonalds restaurant and drive-through could be located. The McDonalds representative believes that the site will be very successful (lots of customers), however, they were concerned with the local Communities' reaction and undertook to review their proposal.

Mayor Karen Williams had agreed to arrange a meeting for the Local Action Committee to address Councilors in order to ensure they understood the proposal. and its potential impact.

The following week the Developer requested an extension to the 5th February deadline with a new date being the 29th of April 2020 to amend their proposal or at least address the planning concerns. Unfortunately, the RCC planners agreed to the extension request despite knowing the community’s position and concerns about the proposal despite having the power to recommend a straight rejection of the proposal.  A rejection may have meant the Developer would have to start a new proposal or forgo their proposal and the site and/or or take legal action. The extension until 29th April is well beyond the upcoming election (28th March) and into a period of either a new look Council or the same Council as it presently stands. It also gives the Developer another opportunity to redesign their proposal. 

The Local Action Committee is disappointed with the RCC Planners’ decision to grant an extension and not support the local community by sending a message to developers that half-baked proposals will not be accepted in the Redlands. We do however understand that council planning officers are attempting to be fair, apolitical and even-handed, particularly in the lead up to an election.

Given that there is another Mayoral Candidate (Claire Richardson), it would be appropriate for residents to ask both the current Mayor (Karen Williams) and the contender, what is their position on the McDonalds proposal. The Local Action Committee will ask these questions as well and update you soon. We will also have to wait for the developers' response and revised submission in April and review to determine further action.
 

Kind regards
Local Action Birkdale