A McDonald's proposal to combine a childcare centre with a fast-food outlet and petrol station could be "catastrophic" according to Wollongong City Council.
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But the fast-food giant says combining these uses will not create conflict and can be managed to provide a safe environment for children.
In plans for Wongawilli, a 100-place child care centre would be located at one corner of the triangular site at West Dapto Road and Raven Place. A petrol station and McDonald's would occupy the other two corners.
According to development documents, council staff have questioned the inclusion of the childcare centre, raising concerns about traffic safety, heavy metal contamination, air pollution and noise.
"The conflict in usage of the shared access way is very dangerous for people loading and unloading toddlers and young children from their cars," officers said.
"If a child wanders off from the parent while they are getting their bags out of the car and walks into the flow of traffic coming through from the petrol station or McDonald's the results will be catastrophic."
Since this meeting, McDonald's said they have amended their proposal to ensure car parking is located next to the child care centre. This, they said, would reduce the need for children and parents to cross an access way. They also said fuel and food deliveries would be "outside peak drop off/ pick up times for the childcare".
Council officers also highlighted the risk of soil contamination from leaking petrol containers, noting that "child care centres can't be built on old service station sites until the site has been heavily remediated".
They said Wollongong council had previously not allowed child care centres to be built within 500 metres of a petrol station.
If a child wanders off from the parent ... walks into the flow of traffic coming through from the petrol station or McDonald's the results will be catastrophic.
- Wollongong City Council officers.
"This is due to the fact that children are more sensitive to toxins than adults and are extremely vulnerable to exposure to soil contamination due to the fact that they play and digest soil and sand as part of everyday activities."
But McDonalds' planners argued that having the multiple uses on the same site would not be a conflict.
"The proposed location of the child care is not considered to be negatively impact[ed] on in terms of pollution from the service station," the plans said.
"The acoustic assessment found that the proposal met all relevant noise criteria.
"The proposed development will provide a safe, functional and environmentally responsive development outcome for the site and locality," their plans concluded.
"Given the merit of the design and the absence of any significant adverse environmental impacts or planning issues, the DA is considered to be in the public's interest and worthy of Council's support."
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
