A CONTROVERSIAL Woolworths development at Strathfieldsaye has been denied a planning permit by Bendigo councillors.
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But the project will ultimately be decided by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal next month.
The supermarket and retail development on Club Court received 122 submissions and three petitions with 785 signatures.
Councillor Rod Campbell last night noted there was a lot of interest in the project both in support and opposition.
“There’s a lot of feeling out there about this issue,” he said.
“The people were quite emphatic.”
He said issues around traffic, access, safety and the economic impact of the development would have to be “dealt with quite vigorously”.
Councillor Helen Leach said the application did not adhere to the city’s planning scheme and said the developer shouldn’t have overridden the council by going to VCAT.
Councillor Elise Chapman was also opposed to the project.
“I would not be supporting this,” she said.
“It does not adhere to good design principles. The supermarket is set too far back from the street”
Cr Campbell said independent advice given to council noted the need for more services, but not until the town grew.
“We will need much more serviced areas,” he said.
“In the longer term Strathfieldsaye will be able to support two supermarkets.”
A report created for IGA noted the new development would create about 2000m2 of excess supermarket floor space which “may enable both Woolworths and IGA to trade albeit in a tough environment for a number of years”.
All councillors voted to deny the planning permit.
VCAT will hear the matter on June 19.?
