Living next door to McDonald’s: a qualitative study of community submissions and resident realities pre- and post development

Background: The proliferation of fast-food outlets (FFOs) in residential areas has raised growing concerns about their impact on community health, safety, and wellbeing. This qualitative study examined both pre-development community consultation submissions and post-development resident experiences surrounding the development of a McDonald’s outlet in a newly established suburb on the urban fringe of Perth, Western Australia (WA). Methods: Using a qualitative descriptive design, the study analyzed 183 community submissions lodged with the local council prior to development and conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 residents living within 300 m of the outlet after construction. Results: Content analysis revealed strong opposition, with 168 (92%) submissions objecting to the development. Key concerns included health, FFO density, proximity to schools, traffic congestion, safety, pollution (noise, litter, light, odor), antisocial behavior, neighborhood amenity and property devaluation. Despite these concerns, all objections were dismissed by the council on planning grounds. Post-development interviews revealed that residents’ lived experiences reflected all of the very issues they had predicted, expressing frustration with poor council transparency and perceived apathy. Conclusion: The findings reveal a clear disconnect between what communities want and what planning systems deliver, highlighting the need for planning reform in WA that prioritizes public health through exclusion zones, density restrictions and mandatory health impact assessments. As WA councils prepare to implement mandated public health plans under the Public Health Act 2016, these findings provide timely evidence to strengthen community engagement and support health-promoting urban planning.