November 16, 2017
The South Burnett Regional Council approved the development of a Bunnings warehouse in Kingaroy at its monthly meeting on Wednesday.
The approval will allow the company to build a 7597sq m retail warehouse over a site at 2 and 30 Walter Road, along with a 211- bay car park which will include four disability parking bays and four trailer parking bays.
The retail warehouse will offer timber trade sales, building materials, bagged goods, an outdoor nursery and landscaping products, along with an outdoor display area and a food outlet.
The Council also gave approval for Bunnings to reconfigure its site, which will allow it to set aside 2751sq m as a vacant lot that can be used to accommodate future expansion, if required.
The approval was given subject to usual conditions, and will require the company to obtain several other approvals from Council before construction can begin.
The Council also stipulated that the new development must not reduce the amenity of nearby residential properties or distract passing motorists, and must be suitably screened and landscaped.
Property portfolio chair Cr Terry Fleischfresser said the decision by Bunnings to develop an outlet in Kingaroy demonstrated a high level of business confidence in the region.
He said other recent announcements – like AGL’s Coopers Gap Wind Farm or Bega Cheese’s recent announcement it intends to buy out the Peanut Company of Australia – showed real confidence in the region’s future.
“This proposal will no doubt lead to wide regional economic benefits,” Cr Fleischfresser said.
In an indirect reference to calls made on the Council in recent months to condition the Bunnings development so it did not become a “category killer” that simply destroyed existing local businesses to benefit an out-of-town chain, Cr Fleischfresser said one factor that needed to be considered was the amount of sales already leaking out of the region.
“How much money do we lose every weekend from locals going out of this region to do their (hardware) shopping?” Cr Fleischfresser asked.
“And I don’t mean just hardware shopping, while they’re doing that they’re doing other shopping, too.
“We need to consider the positive impacts retaining that business will create, and I think we should look at things in that light.”
Cr Fleischfresser said the store would generate many short-term jobs during its construction phase, and was estimated to generate 60 part-time and full-time jobs on completion.
The motion to approve the development was passed unanimously.
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