"It was the ultimate case of David and Goliath – the small Australian town that took on McDonald's over the building of a fast-food restaurant. But a two-week vigil and rooftop sit-in at the site where the outlet is due to be built ended on Thursday after eight protesters were served with writs and told to end their protest.
Many residents of Melbourne hill suburb Tecoma are angry at the development, believing a fast-food outlet is not in keeping with the town's character and will result in a range of problems from litter to increased crime. Protests have been going on since the development was first mooted in 2010.
On Thursday eight protesters appeared in court and were ordered to stop trespassing on the property owned by McDonald's and to stop preventing vehicles from entering the site. The judge ordered a two-week interim injunction and the case will be heard in early August, giving protesters time to organise legal counsel and to give their side of the story.
They have also been banned from using social media to incite protest.
McDonald's is also looking to recover costs from the delays caused by what protesters have called their "valiant Tecoma blockade".
Construction was postponed after union workers with the CFMEU stopped work, citing safety concerns and sympathy with protesters' concerns.
Spokesman Garry Muratore calls McDonald's' action "a way to intimidate people" but states that though protesters will act within the law they will "maintain the rage".
After the shire of the Yarra Ranges rejected McDonald's' development application, the matter went to the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal (VCAT), where it was overturned in October.
Since then protests have gathered steam. Protesters say there were 1,100 written objections and a survey they conducted indicates nine out of 10 residents don't want a McDonald's in Tecoma; faced with such a dearth of support, VCAT's ruling was "undemocratic". The survey, however, was conducted in November.
However, tensions have been running high long before writs were served or the site was occupied by protesters. Campaigners have made much of their self-reported figure of nine out of 10 being against the project but others dispute the figure and say that despite cries of democracy they do not feel the protesters represent them.
Rodney Kaye has lived in Tecoma for 12 years and owns two bottle shops in neighbouring suburbs Upwey and Belgrave. He earlier came out in tentative support of the fast-food multinational, or at least its staff training schemes, in the media. One of his delivery vans was later targeted with graffiti, though he says there is no proof it was one of the protesters.
He calls the differences of opinion "a real division" between residents, something others the Guardian Australia spoke to echoed (one shop worker declined to be identified for fear of being ostracised and the shop boycotted).
He disputes the nine out of 10 figure given by protesters, saying: "'I'm part of the community and you don't represent me'. Their campaign has been well run except when they get too extreme. Anyone in the community who questions [them] – suddenly you're ostracised and pro-McDonald's."
Heather Stewart, who started the rival Yes to Tecoma McDonald's Facebook page (with more than 2,300 "likes" currently), says those who are what she calls "pro-choice" are viewed as having an agenda. "People are getting called fat, lazy bogans.
"It's a massive temper tantrum," she says. "I don't want any [outlets] farther up the hill or in the ranges. Tecoma's been dying a painful death for a long time now. The nine out of 10 is complete rubbish."
Muratore says that Yes to McDonald's Facebook supporters are "just trolls". Documentation provided to Guardian Australia breaks the figures down: of the 1,230 adults surveyed (out of a population of 2,088) 1,085 were "against", 59 were "for" and 86 "didn't care".
Since the VCAT ruling last year protesters and council have realised the futility in taking their concern to the supreme court. As Muratore explains, "this is a PR battle more than a legal battle", and armed with their nine out of 10 figure, they're ready to argue the undemocratic nature of a restaurant setting up shop in an area where, their data shows, it is most certainly not wanted.
"With social media you can change opinion quickly,' said Muratore on Saturday when the Guardian Australia first visited Tecoma, pointing to the chalk-scrawled black fence around the site's perimeter. "They gave us the world's biggest blackboard."
He is keen to point out that protesters are not "hippies" but ordinary ratepayers and mums and dads: "What your concern is really depends on who you are."
Concerns are Nimby-like in that many protesters are not concerned by McDonald's elsewhere, such as neighbouring Scoresby, but worry how it will change the character of their small town. They also believe its 24-hour operations will attract "hoons" and increase crime. Litter is a concern, as is increased traffic on what is already a busy and often blocked
road. Many of the "pro-choice" group are annoyed by litter and mess they say protesters have generated. The site is in an area zoned for 24-hour business, however the BP petrol station closes at 9pm. It is not clear whether McDonald's plans to operate 24 hours.
Jen and Moray Taylor, from Worcester, recently bought a house in the area.
"We fell in love with the hills," said Jen. "The last thing you want is the city following you." She says attending the protests has been a good way to make friends.
David Jewell, with the Tecoma Village Action Group (TVAG), tells Guardian Australia: "We've been here since day one," long before the current larger-scale protests and burger-off. He says they were denied justice and suffered "absolute bias" at the VCAT hearing of last year. However, when interviewed on Saturday, he didn't rate McDonald's' chances of success in Tecoma. "McDonald's has got no choice [but to back down], or they'll bring in the storm troopers," he says.
Betty Marsden, OAM, is president of the Save the Dandenongs League, founded in 1950.
"It's been saved from a lot of things," she remarks drily, sitting in the town's bakery. 'We've stopped it being overrun by suburbia. It's so obvious that people didn't want it, the council didn't want it. They've [McDonald's] underestimated public feeling, but they don't want to back down."
McDonald's may not have brought in the stormtroopers, but it has brought in its lawyers. However, as one shopkeeper puts it: "The unfortunate reality is that McDonald's will be built but relationships between people have been severed.""
Fonte: The Guardian
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