{"id":195405,"date":"2017-11-15T19:05:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T09:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=195405"},"modified":"2020-08-11T11:43:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T01:43:54","slug":"bunnings-gets-go-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/11\/15\/bunnings-gets-go-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Bunnings Store Gets Go-Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The future site of a new Bunnings store near the Rogers Drive business estate in Kingaroy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Property portfolio chair Cr Terry Fleischfresser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 16, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

The South Burnett Regional Council approved the development of a Bunnings warehouse in Kingaroy at its monthly meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The approval was given subject to usual conditions, and will require the company to obtain several other approvals from Council before construction can begin.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“This proposal will no doubt lead to wide regional economic benefits,” Cr Fleischfresser said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“How much money do we lose every weekend from locals going out of this region to do their (hardware) shopping?” Cr Fleischfresser asked.<\/p>\n

“And I don’t mean just hardware shopping, while they’re doing that they’re doing other shopping, too.<\/p>\n

“We need to consider the positive impacts retaining that business will create, and I think we should look at things in that light.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The motion to approve the development was passed unanimously.<\/p>\n

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