By Tom Cowie
A controversial new fast-food outlet less than 100 metres from a Mornington Peninsula beach has won approval after almost six years of resistance from hundreds of residents and the local council.
A BP service station on the foreshore at Safety Beach, along the Nepean Highway, will be redeveloped to include a 24-hour convenience food store and drive-through after a successful appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Residents have fought plans for a new McDonald’s on the Mornington Peninsula site for almost six years.Credit: Justin McManus
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council twice rejected applications by the site owners, AA Holdings, for a larger service station and new takeaway outlet after both bids drew a total of about 1500 objections from the community.
VCAT also previously blocked the proposal until ultimately approving it this month. The applicants first sought council permission for their plan in 2019.
The tenant for the new store is yet to be decided, however residents believe it will end up as a McDonald’s outlet.
Objectors raised a string of concerns about the proposal, including the potential for traffic congestion, increased litter on the beach and in Port Phillip Bay, and noise and anti-social behaviour from patrons, and that a residential area was inappropriate for a fast-food business.
Andrew Robertson, who lives nearby and is also a member of the Safety Beach Foreshore Landscape Committee, is disappointed with the outcome after such a long fight.
“It’s an established residential area that doesn’t need this facility,” he said.
“In our view, it’s not going to service us. There’s plenty of things available to the residents in the [nearby] Dromana township.”
Robertson said the new fast-food outlet would be located in a “simple seaside community”, where many people had owned their homes for decades, enjoying the short walk across to the beach.
The location of the fast-food outlet will be less than 100 metres from the water of Port Phillip Bay.Credit: Justin McManus
“We’re not very happy about it,” he said.
The service station is zoned residential and more than 500 metres from other food businesses, however, under planning rules, a convenience restaurant is permitted in the area.
Robertson said the owners of the service station had access to more resources than residents to fight the battle.
AA Holdings has more than 50 BP outlets across Melbourne. Company records show it generated $864 million in revenue in 2024.
An artist’s impression of the proposed BP service station and convenience restaurant at Safety Beach.Credit: Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
“They’re just determined to push it through, and they’ve obviously spent a load of money on getting through to appeal,” said Robertson.
Paul Whittaker, owner of the Dromana Drive-In, said a new McDonald’s would put pressure on other small businesses that were already operating on a knife-edge.
He worried the variety of cuisine would be reduced.
“We put up a strong opposition in VCAT, but we feel ignored,” he said. “They got everything they wanted.”
Mornington Peninsula Mayor Anthony Marsh said the development was inappropriate for that particular spot, citing serious safety concerns about cars accessing the awkward site.
“The plan fails to provide adequate car parking and queuing space to accommodate drive-through patrons, and will have a detrimental impact on the surrounding residential area,” he said.
“We are also concerned about the potential for litter to affect the nearby marine environment.”
Marsh said the second permit application had attracted more than 500 objections, one of the largest responses council had seen from the community.
“It’s disappointing VCAT has not listened to the serious concerns of both council and the community,” he said.
Another objector, John Steele, said there were already several McDonald’s outlets operating on the peninsula, in Rosebud and on the Peninsula Link freeway at BP outlets also owned by AA Holdings.
“There’s no proven need for a McDonald’s,” he said. “Even if there was, it’d be better somewhere else.”
In their decision, VCAT senior member Geoffrey Code and member Kate Partenio said AA Holdings had dealt with traffic concerns such as drive-through queuing and insufficient parking in their application.
Among the conditions are that AA Holdings must conduct daily litter patrols and not adversely affect the amenity of the neighbourhood with offensive noise or smells.
The Age contacted the lawyers representing AA Holdings in VCAT but they said they did not have instructions to provide comment.
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