Wagga’s fifth McDonald’s is set to open its doors on Monday 15 December. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
The debate over whether Wagga needs a fifth McDonald’s store has reached fever pitch, with the Boorooma outlet announcing it will be opening its doors on Monday 15 December.
While some residents living near the new store have expressed excitement about the prospect of not having to travel into the city for their burgers and fries, others, including local food producer Zoe Lamont, have labelled it a “tragedy”.
The new McDonald’s will be the third franchise to open at the Boorooma shopping centre, following Domino’s and Subway.
Farmdoor’s Zoe Lamont said she was heartbroken to see another fast food store in Wagga in place of a small, local business.
“It’s an absolute tragedy and a complete missed opportunity to create something innovative,” she said.
“It’s absolutely the opposite of what we need to be doing for the community’s health, mental health, for our local food security and our local food procurement,” she said.
“There is only one quality family-run food-based business in Boorooma. The rest are just massive franchises that have businesses everywhere.
“Hadley’s Cafe is the only business out there that would buy any source of local produce, whether that be dairy, mushrooms or anything else. None of the other businesses would do that.”
Ms Lamont said she was unsure how McDonald’s got approved for a fifth store and that she hoped to see more education about the importance of local business and produce.
“We need to make sure that in new developments, these local small businesses are prioritised,” she said.
“We can’t just be letting these massive, big chains come and run them all.”
The Boorooma Shopping Centre is becoming much busier and already creating parking headaches, with a new Coles supermarket also set to open on Monday 4 December.
Coles is also poised to open its doors. Photo: Supplied.
Despite Ms Lamont’s calls, some Estella and Booroma residents have welcomed the fast food outlet.
Estella resident Hamish Spicer said having a McDonald’s in the city’s north meant families wouldn’t have to complete a nearly half-hour trip into the city for fast food.
“Fast food isn’t that fast out here,” he said.
“It’s always good to have more options in Estella. On top of that, the university students and families are gonna be quite pleased as well that they don’t have to go across the bridge.
“A lot of people complain about how many fast food places there are, but it’s about creating options and jobs as well. If it promotes more jobs in the area, then I believe it’s a good thing.”
Mr Spicer said he knew many people who would enjoy the opportunity to go on a ‘Maccas run’ now that there was one closer to home.
“The closest store originally was either on Fox Street or at Glenfield,” he said.
“Who knows, maybe by having all the northern residents staying up north, the traffic from Inland Rail and the Gobba Bridge won’t be so bad,” he joked.
The new McDonald’s is located at 7 Phar Lap Pl, Boorooma.
