Hipster outrage as McDonald’s plans 24-hour restaurant in Marrickville

Plans for McDonald’s to open a 24-hour restaurant in the heart of Marrickville have sparked a wave of outrage from locals who want to keep the fast-food giant out of the rapidly gentrifying suburb.

The company has submitted a pre-development application for a new store on Marrickville Road, close to the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Center and a number of breweries and coffee roasters that have transformed the area into a hipster mecca.

The two-story restaurant would operate 24 hours a day, including a drive-through, 12 parking spaces, and the golden arches sign.

But the prospect of McDonald’s opening a store in Marrickville has divided residents, with dozens taking to social media and public forums to object to trash, bad behavior and the dilution of the suburb’s character.

“Marrickville is really going down the drain,” said Robynne Hayward from Sydenham. She said McDonald’s stores are “ugly”, generate traffic and don’t match the bars, restaurants and live music venues the suburb is known for today.

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“I just think it’s totally undesirable. The local businesses are small, mostly family-run or community-run businesses. They are not a corporate chain.”

Another person wrote on the Scheduling Warning Portal that McDonald’s is “crass, trashy, gross, and most importantly, boring” and that it would be “shameful to lower the culinary tone with gross, weird, spongy stuff.”

However, the proposed McDonald’s has many supporters, including lifelong Marrickville resident Michael Guirgis, who runs the Facebook community group We Love Marrickville. The 47-year-old said a 24-hour restaurant would give young people a place to hang out late at night, which is badly needed.