Plans for a hardware warehouse ‘‘smack bang in the middle’’ of a Bacchus Marsh residential zone are a step closer after Moorabool council approved an application to rezone four hectares of land on the western side of Gisborne Road.
After hearing the Bunnings Warehouse development could increase traffic flows by up to 300 vehicles during peak periods, Cr John Spain said it was a case of “opportunity knocking”.
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“I’m not going to downplay the traffic impacts because we don’t know them yet,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not the perfect site, but it’s not a bad site either.”
Cr Tom Sullivan said approving the application to rezone would “tease out any potential issues”.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion,” he said. “This is the start of a very long process.”
In front of a packed gallery including scores of protesters, Peninsula Planning Consultants town planner Richard Umbers said the proposed 9543-square-metre store would deliver 85 new jobs – of which
95 per cent would be locally sourced – and pump $3.5 million into the local economy each year.
“This is the first step of a strong relationship between Bunnings and the community,” he said, “but more houses do not create jobs.”
Cr Allan Comrie backed a council report that found the area “currently experiences high traffic during peak times”.
“It’s in the wrong spot,” he said. “I drive down that road every day and during school times it’s a car park.”
Former Moorabool councillor Russ Hendry urged the council to “put infrastructure first for once”.
“I’m not opposed to Bunnings, but I am opposed to putting it smack bang in the middle of residential development,” he said.
“I’m very disappointed with the bias in this report; it’s developer-driven and short-sighted. Who is running this outfit? Clearly the developers are.”
