Say No to Fast-Food chains on Phillip Island

McDonalds has lodged a planning application to open a 24/7 convenience restaurant at 157 Thompson Avenue and 190-194 Settlement Rd, Cowes.

This page will provide you with information how to Object and templates to use if required.

The process to Object involves sending your reasons for Objecting to the proposal to Bass Shire. You must also include your name, address and contact details.

The format of Objection can take any form as long as the above details are included.

Council accepts all forms of objections. You can send an email, fill in our automatic form or handwrite your objection. If you don’t use our form, the objection must be sent to Bass Coast Shire either by Australia Post or by the following email:

planningapplication@basscoast.vic.gov.au

Stating in the subject line:

Objection PDPLANPER 2026/000285; 157 Thompson Ave & 190-194 Settlement Rd Cowes.

You can also attend any of Councils Customer Service Centres such as Berninneit and hand in your objection who will submit on your behalf.

You can write your own objection to the proposal, use our Cover Letter or use our Objection form or one of our Word templates.

Our form and templates

They list sixteen core issues and risks that can be the result if McDonalds is successful. These are listed in no order with the heading:

WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR YOUR OBJECTION in the template.

The sixteen issues we have identified are listed below:

1. Inappropriate Siting Adjacent to a Primary School
2. Negative Economic Impact and the Illusion of Job Creation
3. Severe Reduction in Trade for Local Businesses and Economic Destabilisation
4. Over commercialisation, Impact, Incompatibility on Cowes Local Character and Tourism
5. Environmental and Biodiversity concerns
6. Heightened Risk in a Coastal Location
7. Inappropriate Commercial Encroachment on General Residential Zoned Land (GRZ1), inconsistency/conflict with 2050 Density Mandates
8. Traffic Generation, Congestion, Pedestrian Safety Impacts and Inadequate Parking
9. Overdevelopment and Excessive Site Intensity
10. Carriage way easement in favour of McDonalds
11. Severe Impact on the safety of the school community
12. High Risk to Vulnerable Road Users (Aged Care Interface)
13. Strain on Limited Emergency Services and Risk of Anti-Social Behaviour
14. Loss of Vegetation and Environmental Degradation Violation of the Vegetation Protection Overlay (VPO2)
15. Adverse Amenity Impacts: Noise, Light, and Odour Intrusions
16. Public Health and Community Wellbeing Considerations

The form and templates also have a list of impacts under the heading: HOW THE PROPOSAL IMPACTS ON ME.

Download our Word templates

If you prefer to submit a Word document and not use our form there are 4 different Word templates use can use below. These will need to be downloaded and sent to Council using one of the methods listed above.

1. A Cover Letter where you list your own reasons for objecting. This can be used anyone who wants to write their own reasons. Download here
2. A template for residents and visitors or anyone concerned with a pre-populated list of issues and impacts that you can delete from/ add to or submit as is. Download here
3. A template focusing on community members who have children attending Cowes primary school. Download here
4. A template If you have family in the nearby Melaleuca Aged Care Facility, or frequently use mobility aids. Download here

To use these after downloading you can copy and paste into an email or you can attach the template after downloading. Remember to add your name and contact details in the indicated fields.

To use these after downloading you can copy and paste into an email or you can attach the template after downloading. Remember to add your name and contact details in the indicated fields.