A rendition of a new drive-through McDonald's on Broadway in Newmarket, with the motorway flyover shown above. The food business has consent for a development at 450 Broadway. Image / Application to Auckland Council
A rendition of a new drive-through McDonald's on Broadway in Newmarket, with the motorway flyover shown above. The food business has consent for a development at 450 Broadway. Image / Application to Auckland Council
Concerns have been raised about the development of a new 24/7 McDonald’s Newmarket near thousands of school students.
Newmarket School principal Wendy Kofoed and associate professor Victoria Egli from the University of Waikato’s health division are worried.
However, Simon Kenny of McDonald’s said any major metropolitan area tends to haveschools in the vicinity.
It was a “spurious” view that the business targeted sites near schools or lower socio-economic areas, he said.
“Our franchisees have good relationships with schools around the country in the communities in which we operate,” Kenny said.
“It does undermine what we are doing in schools and what our families do to support our students to be healthy and well,” said the principal of the school on Gillies Ave, a few hundred metres from the site of the new outlet.
The site of a planned McDonald's drive-through at 450 Broadway in Newmarket, Auckland. Photo / Application to Auckland Council
Kenny said McDonald’s had operated three restaurants in Newmarket previously but none had a drive-through.
It took several years to find a site that fitted the company’s needs and met the council consent planning criteria, he said.
Newmarket was one of the country’s largest retail precincts, located on a major transport route, he added.
“There are more than 100 food and beverage outlets in the area. Our franchisees have good relationships with schools around the country in the communities in which we operate,” Kenny said.
Kofoed said she expected younger pupils such as those from Newmarket School would be unlikely to visit McDonald’s without parents.
The site of a drive-through McDonald's planned for 450 Broadway in Newmarket, Auckland, showing the motorway above. Broadway is the street on the left. Photo / Application to Auckland Council
“But the new McDonald’s will likely be a magnet for secondary students whose congregation and interactions have caused problems for businesses previously,” Kofoed said.
She also has traffic concerns, saying it was already “fierce” and could be made worse by the new outlet.
Kenny said McDonald’s was one of New Zealand’s largest employers of youth.
Newmarket School is on Gillies Ave. Photo / NZME
Many students get their first job with McDonald’s.
“We also accommodate regular requests for visits as part of the high school economics curriculum. We already interact with schools in the Newmarket area, and have strong working relationships with the local business association and other community stakeholders,” Kenny said.
Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Diocesan principal Heather McRae said students came from far and wide and would have access to McDonald’s all around Auckland and the rest of the country.
“I believe that if we educate our young people about healthy eating, they will make good decisions for themselves and their families in the future,” she said.
Having the odd takeaway was “not a disaster” and McRae likes McDonald’s thickshakes occasionally.
Heather McRae, principal of Diocesan School for Girls. Photo / NZME
Egli estimated thousands of school-goers would be within close proximity of the Broadway site beneath the Southern Motorway’s Newmarket Viaduct.
She estimated the site is about 700m from Newmarket Primary, 450m from Epsom Girls’ Grammar with more than 2000 students, and 600m from Diocesan School For Girls with more than 1600 students.
The proximity of the Newmarket train station was another concern, with so many school-goers using trains to get to and from school.
Thousands were likely to pass that new McDonald’s, Egli predicted.
Kenny said new outlets were rising in areas of growth, like Silverdale and Green Island.
But they were also being developed in established areas where there was suitable customer demand, like Birkenhead and Lynfield.
“We know customers prefer a full-service McDonald’s that can provide a drive-through, McCafe, playland and extended hours of trading,” he said.
Vehicle access and good transport links were critical, given the volume of drive-through customers.
“There is a spurious view that McDonald’s targets lower socio-economic areas and sites near schools.
“This is not true, and in operating for nearly 50 years in New Zealand, we have a great track record in the communities in which we operate,” Kenny said.
Newmarket Business Association chief executive Mark Knoff-Thomas and Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson expressed positive views of the development to the Herald.
McDonald’s Newmarket
Won non-notified consent on June 19.
Application was assessed as not requiring notification.
Site at 450, 470-474, 476-480 Broadway. This is on the corner of Broadway and Mahuru St.
To be developed on nearly 1ha beneath Newmarket Viaduct.
Site of 8202sq m owned by Dilworth Trust Board.
12m-high Golden Arches sign consented.
Drive-through order facilities plus 14 car parks.
The business says it expects to open in the next 12 months.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
