Plans to build Wānaka’s first McDonald’s restaurant have been thrown out.

An application to bring the global fast-food giant to the small resort town was declined by Queenstown Lakes District Council today.

Local beef; signs of protest and support for McDonald's application to build a restaurant in Wānaka.

More than 100 submitters planned to speak at a four-day hearing for the consent application in November last year.

Overall, 366 submissions were made to the council with only 21 in support of the proposal.

A petition against a McDonald’s in Wānaka also attracted more than 6000 signatures, almost a year after it was launched.

It claimed that the international food giant was responsible for extensive food waste and pollution – and that it didn’t belong in Wānaka.

“Additionally, McDonald’s will take away business and staff from local businesses, directing profit out of Wānaka,” wrote the petition’s creator, Sarah Morrison.