Think about social impacts of projects before green light

Get real about being smart about the health and social impacts their poor economic development decisions will have on our future community.

Children leave Chancellor State College after school finishes and head to McDonald's and KFC. Picture: Craig Warhurst

NO FAST food outlet should be built near a school - kids don't need sugar for lunch (Daily, February 26).

The failure here is the fundamental way in which the council is failing all the time. They are unable to see past the "box ticking” of development applications.

There is absolutely no consideration of the social impacts of anything which is going on. To say the developer got it all right, it was just a temporary mix-up with the roads, misses the point.

Then to big note by saying, 'Here's $50,000 we'll fix it up for you', further shows they total lack empathy.

Because they are using ratepayer money to superficially provide a solution to a problem that their short-termism has created.

The solution is always erect something, never more thought about the real outcomes of projects.

Do these operators encourage kids to come to them for lunch?

Are the schools permitting kids to leave and buy sugar-laden fast food?

If it comes about that school canteens have a healthy diet paradigm and it fails because the council allows de facto privately-owned sugar canteens to operate within walking distance, then the council should begin to think about not just mouthing the motto "healthy, smart, creative”.

And get real about being smart about the health and social impacts their poor economic development decisions will have on our future community.

MICHAEL BURGESS

Parrearra

Originally published as Think about social impacts of projects before green light