Wānaka McDonald's debate: Council to hear submissions from today

Queenstown Lakes District Council will hear submissions this week about a proposal to open a McDonald's in Wānaka.

The fast food giant is seeking consent to open a 455sq metre restaurant at the Wānaka-Luggate Highway, with a drive-thru operating 24/7.

However, some locals are pushing back.

RNZ reported that 366 submissions were made: 339 against the proposal and 21 in support. Six wanted changes to the plan.

Sophie Ward from Wastebusters and Plastic Free Wānaka told Breakfast this morning that the key concern was environmental.

"[The] McDonald's business model really relies on single-use packaging and this creates a lot of litter and waste," she said.

"For a lot of people, the majority of people that have submitted, it just doesn't fit with our environmental ethos and the zero-waste kaupapa of our community."

More than 6000 people have signed a petition to stop the restaurant opening — and Ward said it's also about aesthetics.

"The proposed location is at the bottom of Mount Iron, which is a beautiful treasure that we have here," she said.

"Putting that at one of the entrances to town and at a place that we all love and use, it doesn't fit there.

"For us, we're not saying we'd never welcome McDonald's to our town, but we would really want them to fit in with the zero-waste ethos here.

"We did attempt to engage with them early in the process, but they — and you know, we really respected this — they wanted to see the process through, so depending on the outcome, we would definitely be wanting to talk to them."