The developer behind a planned supermarket on the Sunshine Coast says he is “overwhelmed” by support for the project.
A development application is in progress to establish a grocery store at Palmwoods.
And it seems most locals are eager to see it become a reality.
NeaBau Group director Tim Reed said the DA was still being assessed but he was buoyed by feedback from a recent public notification period.
“We are still in the decision stage for our supermarket application at Palmwoods,” he said.
“(But) we have been overwhelmed by the community support.
“We had hundreds of submissions through the public notification period: 93 per cent of them were in favour of the application.”
Mr Reed said the DA was essentially on hold during the council election period.
“Given the election, we are currently a little in limbo with timing and councillor status,” he said.
The DA outlined the benefits of the planned shopping centre at 22 Palmwoods-Montville Road.
“The proposed development provides for an opportunity to service the community with a large national supermarket retailer, namely Coles, who will add obvious competition, choice and convenience to an underserviced market,” he said.
The facility would have 2615sqm of floor space.
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The DA said the centre would also encourage locals to shop in town, “rather than being redirected to other larger centres”.
The application also seeks a permit to reconfigure a lot, to create two lots and a new road.
Works, including the realignment of a waterway and clearing of vegetation, have recently been undertaken on the site in accordance with earlier development approvals.
“There is a strong economic, community and planning need for a full-line supermarket in Palmwoods,” the application stated.
“The site is ideally located on a major road at the edge of the Palmwoods activity centre, and the design is sympathetic and compatible to the existing character of Palmwoods and does not adversely affect scenic routes or significant view lines.”
The DA said that there were no suitable locations for a shopping centre in the middle of the town and that the proposed site would be appropriate.
“The site is ‘edge of centre’ (and) not physically distant from or unconnected from the Palmwoods activity centre.
“When a use cannot be located within the local centre zoned land, the generally accepted planning strategy for centre development is for development to occur at the edge of an existing centre, rather than in a remote location.
“The development achieves this.
“The site is ideally located at the western entrance to the Palmwoods activity centre on a new, all-movements intersection.
“The site is physically suitable for the development and is convenient to the identified catchment that is generating the need for the development.”
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
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