The National Public Health Service is reviewing all potential public submissions from the agency after its southern arm wrote a submission raising concerns over a proposed McDonald’s restaurant in Wānaka.
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has taken a swipe at the NPHS for the content of its submission – which the NPHS says the local council asked for – saying it should be focused on prioritising serious public health issues.
McDonald’s has been trying to gain resource consent to build a new 445sq m, 24/7 restaurant at the intersection of State Highway 6 and SH84.
An artist's representation of the proposed McDonald's near Mt Iron, Wanaka.
An eight-page submission from the NPHS Te Waipounamu region said the restaurant would create environmental sustainability issues associated with takeaway food containers and food waste, as well as increased traffic and emissions.
It used the World Health Organisation’s definition of health, which is “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
The NPHS also said it was unconvinced the building was a better option than leaving the land undeveloped, close to Mt Iron (which is designated in the district plan as an outstanding natural feature), and believed the jobs it would create would be low-paying and offer little security.
Officials recommended the council request a health impact assessment and cultural impact assessment from McDonald’s.
Reti has expressed his concerns about the content of the submission, and others like it, to the chief executive of Health New Zealand, Margie Apa.
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“Content within the submission, including observations about planetary health, landscape values, traffic and Te Tiriti, do not match my over-arching view of what the NPHS should be spending its time on. Whooping cough, measles and raising immunisation rates are among the most pressing issues facing health today,” he said.
“I also found it astonishing that a submission from a health agency did not address the topics it might have been expected to. There was no mention in the document I have seen of healthy eating.”
The NPHS said the council had requested the submission.
However, national director Dr Nick Chamberlain acknowledged it did not get the submission right.
“I have reminded our leadership team about our priorities and will ensure resources and time are put into significant public health issues, which remain my priority.”
He said all future potential local or regional submissions would be reviewed and approved at a national level before they proceed.
Reti said future submissions would need to meet more stringent criteria, be considered as having a reasonable chance of influencing a decision, and only be made on issues of direct public health concern.
The measure would be temporary, while the NPHS focused on a reset. A new permanent framework would be established in the future.
Act health spokesman Todd Stephenson had also previously criticised the NPHS for its submission, calling officials “taxpayer-funded busybodies” imposing a “nanny state agenda” and suggesting the service should be stripped back to a core function of responding to infectious diseases.
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