Proposed all-hours McDonald’s hot topic at community forum

CONTENTIOUS 24-hour, seven-day-a-week McDonald’s was a hot topic of conversation at a community meeting held to discuss a $30m shopping centre proposal for Hobart’s Eastern Shore.

More than 100 residents gathered at Emmanuel Christian School on Wednesday night where Glebe Hill Village proponent Tipalea addressed community concerns and answered questions about a proposed shopping precinct with 17 shops, including a Coles.

Topics discussed included jobs, project timing and designs. Concerns were raised last week by Glebe Hill resident Andrew Seward who said the around-the-clock McDonald’s planned for the site could lead to an increase in neighbourhood crime.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Tipalea chief executive Scott Spanton outlined measures being considered to mitigate potential issues with the restaurant.

“These include light spill and noise impacts, as well as the steps being taken to counter potential anti-social behaviour with the implementation of regular security patrolling and high-end security includA ing full CCTV coverage, car counters and number plate recognition,” he said.

Ms Spanton also spruiked that McDonald’s is a powerful employment generator committed to youth training which he said could lead to strong job growth for Hobart’s youth.

Glebe Hill Village would create around 200 jobs during construction and more than 350 ongoing jobs once complete.

Resident Kristy Anne said the meeting adequately addressed community questions.

“I most certainly got a lot of information out of it,” she wrote on a forum.