Bass Coast Shire Council on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, refused a planning permit for a McDonald's restaurant in Cowes, on Phillip Island. The councillors' vote was unanimous. ABC Gippsland writes that the proposal was found inconsistent with the local planning scheme. This is a council refusal, not a VCAT judgment.

The application was lodged earlier in 2026. Cowes, the main township on the island, has 6,593 residents. The site holds a petrol station and a vacant plot. The meeting was held at the Berninneit cultural centre in Cowes, with a full public gallery.

Council planning officers had recommended granting the permit, which they found acceptable against the planning scheme. The councillors voted otherwise. The South Gippsland Sentinel-Times writes that Island ward councillor Tracey Bell moved an alternate motion to refuse, on the ground that the proposal sits outside the Cowes activity centre and on residential land, at odds with the Cowes Strategic Framework, the Activity Centre Strategy and the Distinctive Area and Landscape Framework.

Councillor Tim O'Brien said the proposal failed the community on so many levels and asked where the community benefit was. Councillor Mat Morgan, a Greens candidate at the coming Victorian election, called for refusal because of inappropriate residential development. Councillor Jan Thompson told the meeting the decision would likely be overturned at VCAT, but voted to refuse anyway. A predicted overturn is not an appeal already lodged.

The council received 1,543 objections and 32 submissions on the application. A petition against the proposal gathered more than 5,800 signatures, citing traffic and pressure on small businesses. The Sentinel-Times puts the announced investment at 3.4 million Australian dollars, as a convenience restaurant. A petition count is not the same as the formal objections.

Resident and business owner Trevor Ware said the community had been heard and that McDonald's would push hard. Cowes resident Megan Ryan said her father lives at Melaleuca, next to the site, and that she does not want a 24-hour McDonald's there. A McDonald's Australia spokesperson expressed disappointment, spoke of more than 100 local jobs as the project's potential, and said the company would consider all available options for the site. Considering options is not an open VCAT file.

McDonald's can appeal the refusal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. ABC puts that as a possible next step. Thompson voted knowing the appeal risk. Until an appeal is lodged and decided, Wednesday's planning refusal stands.

The Sentinel-Times also records concerns about access on Thompson Avenue, the nearby primary school and residential zoning. Those are arguments from the meeting. They are not a crash investigation and not a court judgment.

Image: Davidwillison, Cowes, Phillip Island, 12 April 2016, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive, not the 21 October 2026 meeting.

Sources consulted: Bass Coast Shire Council rejects proposal for McDonalds on Phillip Island - ABC News; Council unanimously rejects McDonalds for Cowes - South Gippsland Sentinel-Times.