Monday, May 18, 2009

The Leader - Tues 19th May 2009

Rubbish next step in protest

Rye residents will dump rubbish as part of their campaign against invading fast food chains. Under the banner "What a Load of Rubbish", protest leader Katrina Humphrey and her committee will dump 125kg of rubbish at the Napier St clock between 10am and 4pm this Saturday, May 23.

Protesters want to demonstrate how much rubbish they estimate just one fast food outlet would generate.

"McDonald's figures state on average about 125kg per restaurant per day, and 99 to 153kg per drive through," Mrs Humphrey said. "Our calculations have that at about 100 large garbage bags. The rubbish bags will pretty much bury the clock."

The protesters have also launched a letter writing campaign as part of their campaign against fast food giants opening in Rye. The rubbish has been collected by supporters.

Ray Webb, from Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, confirmed that the council had received more than 300 letters from residents.

For more details, visit OurTownRye.blogspot.com.

20 comments:

Merryl long term resident from Rye said...

I am an elderly citizen and am only able to travel to Rye. I would very much like to have McDonalds and/or Hungry Jacks in Rye so that I could have a nice cheap place to eat.

Very Happy Mother said...

My kids cant wait for Mc Donalds as it is their favourite place for birthday parties. It is wonderful to have parties at McDonalds as the children do not come to your home and destroy your property - they go to McDonalds instead. Parents have to pick up their children on time after the party so you do not end up having to look after everybodys children all day.

Thank God for McDonalds

Chuck Maccie said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Karen from Hawthorn said...

My husband and I are considering moving to Rye. Can you please tell us the best area so we do not have to be near the riff raff.

Suzanna from Doncaster said...

I have a beach house and I do find that I miss the fast food when we stay down over Christmas. Can you please take this into consideration with your committee as you seem to have plenty of time on your hands.

Please take into consideration the fact that the bay is running out of fish and a fish burger is good while we are on holidays - I do not coook on my holidays.

Margaret from Rye said...

My name is Cheryl and I like food. I am on a Pension and cannot afford to buy food and a coffee so Mcdonalds is good because I get coffee free and this is my only outing - please think of the poor - just because I am poor doesnt mean that I litter. I was brought up a good girl and I think it is wrong that your committe is going to rubbish Rye - what gives you the right?????????

Linda from Rye Primary said...

When my son grows up I want him to get a job and I don't care where. McDonalds and Hungry are equal opportunity employers - Isn't this more important than unloading your personal rubbish in our town.

Jack M Hungry said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I would like to comment on the traffic congestion. The fast food chains have to provide adequate parking. I think it is more likely that the traffic conjestion at Rye is due to the long queues of cars waiting to get into the pub, rsl. and petrol stations. Perhaps it would be an idea to get all people to walk to Rye and leave their cars is Melbourne. I am sure that your committee will come up with a brilliant idea on how to do this - just like your rubbish idea.

bob from RYE RSL said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

You don’t care where your son gets a job when he grows up? What kind of work are you talking about? You do know that over 80% of McDonalds staff are employed on a casual basis - and most of them juniors. Equal opportunity employers - what do you mean by this? All work places are not allowed to discriminate. Your son , when he grows up and gets a job at McDonalds, will be on a grand sum of $16.21 an hour before tax, that is once he is over the age of 21, before then pay begins at $8.10. Personally, I hope MY two sons' want more for their futures.
As for the rubbish debate, yes all food outlets create rubbish, but due to the dominance and high profile nature of McDonalds, the amount of rubbish that walks out of their doors far surpasses any other eatery and the amount of packaging waste from McDonalds has actually INCREASED over the past few years.
I am so surprised by these comments, to the point I actually think some of them are a hoax. I can understand a group of people being passionate enough about wanting to improve and enhance their town, but can’t for the life of me understand why some people are so passionate about having McDonalds on their doorstep when there is one in Rosebud.

unimpressed said...

I would like to comment on the letter regarding the parent against traffic, rubbish and eyesore. I agree - rye has too much traffic and your rubbish will make it into an eyesore.

GOOD ONE committee

Live Life to the Full said...

I like Hungry Jacks and I am sick of driving to Mornington to get a burger. The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks or hadn't you heard.

Get over yourselves and your boring attitudes -
Before you die live life to the full, go forward and multiply and for gods sake eat a burger. If you stick to the above lessons in life you will no longer need a committee

Whitecliffs Rye said...

I am an upper class permanent resident of Rye. I believe that fast food does not belong here. I would prefer to have a lot of upmarket (unaffordable to the riffraff) restaurants that also provide free taxis door to door ensuring that the traffic congestion is minimized in Rye.

I would also like the committee to get rid of caravans and tents because it interupts my views from the upper deck.

On the last note I think the committee should be able to decide who can live in Rye and the minimum annual income amount desirable for this area.

Herminone Granger said...

Go Whitecliffes

Please get the committee to ban children from Rye this would solve the school problem.

Concerned Rye Resident said...

Dear Anonymous I am not surprised by your comments. I hope that your sons both maintain good health and are able to meet your expectations of them. I am one of the unfortunate people that you would not want to meet as my child has special needs and does not fit into your mould. All most people expect from their children is the best that they can achieve whether that means them becoming a doctor or working in a shop. Happiness and independence is more important than climbing the social scale. Get out of your glass house and live in the real world. Best of luck to you.

Anonymous said...

Dear concerned resident,

I am sincerely sorry for your hardship, having some experience of this myself. I do not have a mould of how children should be and I certainly make no judgement about career choices. My comments were made in relation to a McDonalds in Rye being good for employment for children when they grow up, directly in reference to what another writer had said about wanting her child to get a job and not caring where. On reading my previous comment I do understand that some misunderstanding could be construed, but when I talk about what my sons want for their future, I am not talking about in monetary value at all or what work they choose to do. I just don't think adult career opportunities at McDonalds are realistic given statistics they publish regarding employment.
I wish all the best for you and your child.

concerned Rye resident said...

I cannot understand why dumping rubbish near our clock is warranted. Thousands of people visit our township every year and we don't have excessive rubbish.

It seems to me that everybody is already acting responsibly in regard to cleaning up after themselves so what does it matter if the rubbish comes from fast food chains or our own local shops. Once people have purchased their food it is up to the people to make sure it is disposed of correctly. Are you saying that people purchasing food from McDonalds and Hungry Jacks are more likely to litter than those who purchase food from current Rye shops?

I believe that everybody has a choice what they would like to eat and I really don't believe that 350people from our community have the right to dictate what the rest of the Rye residents want.

Anonymous said...

I am a bit of a fan of Subway and not too keen on the hamburger outlets but Subway food also creates rubbish. Do the protesters know how much rubbish Subway produces? I am a bit confused as to what this dumping of rubbish protest is all about and whether this is really the concern of the committee.

The Simpsons said...

That the rubbish produced by McDonalds may not make it onto the streets is irrelevant. Even collected appropriately excessive rubbish must be of great concern to our community where limited land resources should arguably not be used for landfill purposes. The disposal of our waste is one of the gravest logistical tasks we face & anything that adds considerably to this burden needs to be thought through carefully. We simply have to start being responsible for impact we have on our natural resources and I just don’t see how filling our tips faster for the benefit of a multi-national corporation meets this end.

Also, we live in one of the few places relatively untouched by global corporate development. We have an opportunity, with only a small effort, to continue to build an exceptional community based upon our ready access to wonderful local produce and natural resources. This is the kind of development that will create real jobs for our children as they reach adulthood, not to mention the assurance that more of our money is retained within our community and doesn't go to line the pockets of wealthy corporate executives with no interest in our town beyond taking as much profit from it as possible.

Think beyond the golden arches sheeple.