• A new McDonald’s in Ōrākei has been approved despite community concerns about health and traffic.
• The application received 381 submissions, of which 331 were opposed and 45 were in support.
• Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said the panel’s decision must be respected, with conditions applied.

A new McDonald’s in the upmarket Auckland suburb of Ōrākei has been approved despite community opposition.

In 2023, the fast-food giant filed a resource consent application to build a drive-through on Kepa Rd.

Residents started a petition against its opening, citing concerns about potential health implications for children, litter and traffic disturbance.

McDonald’s withdrew its initial application before making a second one in 2024, saying its design had been changed to meet concerns and would bring social benefits and “provide for food outside normal business hours for those on shift work”.

The buildings that occupied the site were demolished in February 2024 by the previous owner of the site.

The new application received 381 submissions, including 331 that opposed the project, 45 that supported it and five that were neutral.

Now, after a three-day hearing in May, an independent panel has granted the fast-food restaurant’s application for resource consent, with conditions.

McDonald's proposed store on Kepa Rd, Ōrākei. Photo / resource consent application to Auckland Council

In a statement to Stuff, McDonald’s spokesperson Simon Kenny said: “We are obviously pleased with the commissioners’ decision, and will continue to work through the process to establish a McDonald’s restaurant at the Kepa Rd site.”

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said the proposal had been “an issue for many in our community”.

“While I know the decision will be disappointing for some members of the community, we need to respect the decision and now ensure that the conditions the panel applied are met.

“The independent panel had all the evidence in front of them and took these into consideration before making a decision.

“The focus of decision-making in these matters is whether it meets Resource Management Act tests, not issues such as public health.”

Simpson said that, if submitters wished to appeal against the decision, they had 15 working days to do so to the Environment Court.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.