(Photo: murgon.net.au)
November 15, 2017
Cornett’s SupaIGA Supermarket in Murgon will undergo an expansion in 2018 after the South Burnett Regional Council gave its approval on Wednesday.
M5 Investments had lodged an application to expand the existing shopping centre at 113-117 Lamb Street and 58 Palmer Street by 418sqm.
Council officers noted the property was located in the town’s Business and Commercial Zone and this type of application would normally would be self-assessable.
But in this instance it was a Code Assessable because of parking.
All the same, Council officers recommended the application be approved, subject to usual conditions.
When questioned by Councillors, Planning Manager Chris Du Plessis said all other aspects of the application were not a cause for concern.
While the expansion would normally require the applicant to add extra parking spaces to the site, in this case it seemed unnecessary.
Mr Du Plessis told the meeting the existing site only experienced a potential shortage of car parking spaces twice a week, on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.
At those times shopping centre staff were encouraged to park elsewhere, and this system had worked well for many years.
In addition, because the centre was located in Murgon’s CBD, some shoppers chose to park in Lamb Street and walk to the centre rather than drive there.
The motion to approve the expansion was moved by Cr Terry Fleischfresser and seconded by Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff, and carried unanimously.
Later on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Cornetts said they were delighted with the decision and had been hoping to expand the supermarket for the past “7 or 8 years”.
Work on the expansion is expected to begin early in the New Year.
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Travellers on the Murgon-Gayndah Road and residents who live along it can expect better mobile coverage in the near future if they use Telstra’s network.
Telstra will erect a 30m monopole at Gayndah Road, Windera to improve telecommunications in the area.
The South Burnett Regional Council approved an application to erect the monopole and associated telecommunications equipment at its November meeting, subject to usual conditions.
Telstra will have to build the tower within six months or the approval will lapse.
