A plan to develop a 5.6 hectare vacant block on the eastern side of Tuggerah into a large format retail centre has been given the green light by the Local Planning Panel (LPP).
The $30M development at 2-11 Bryant Dr will be undertaken by Aventus, the owner of 19 major retail sites across the country.
The DA includes three large retail buildings over 10,000 square metres, two dining zones across 700square metres as well as alfresco dining, drive-through and takeaway restaurants.
It also includes space for 389 parking spots.
Aventus is the proprietor of the recently-refurbished Tuggerah Super Centre on the other side of Bryant Drive that is anchored by Bunnings and counts among its tenants Spotlight, Pet Stock and Fantastic Furniture.
The LPP knocked back the proposal in June 2021 when it came to light that there had been a lack of community engagement, with one major landowner adjacent to the site complaining they had only learned about the plan from a neighbour.
Residents complained at the time that the masterplan lacked appropriate consideration for flooding and stormwater.
In response to the decision of the Panel at its meeting on June 24, 2021, Council undertook notification of all adjoining properties, irrespective of the use of the land.
The notification period commenced on July 1, 2021 and finished on July 22, 2021 during which Council received three submissions.
Aventus returned to the table at the end of last year with information designed to satisfy the Panel and those who had made submissions.
It stated the latest report considered concerns raised by public submissions and Central Coast Council and outlined an amended design to address them; specifically the provision of a flood relief culvert from Bryant Dr, that ensures current drainage paths from Bryant Dr are not only maintained but improved.
“Property connections to adjoining lots have been provided to ensure flow paths are not blocked during the interim scenario whilst also allowing for connection to the ultimate system,” it stated.
Aventus noted that these connections were always proposed, however, they have since been modified to suit the new flood relief culvert.
The go-ahead is good timing for Aventus which has announced its intention to merge with Home Co Daily Needs (HDN).
HDN operates 30 large format retail sites across Australia.
The value of the merged group’s portfolio, after the anticipated merger on March 4, has been placed at $4B and will give the combined group 2.5 million square metres of retail property.
84 per cent of the sites will be tenanted by national retailers.
Aventus is not the only developer looking to build on the potential of Tuggerah.
Fiducia Property Group has plans to turn 16ha of land at 25 Bryant Dr, Tuggerah into a master planned mixed-use development.
Fiducia said it aimed to look at a variety of uses and activities for the site, including public engagement and how it will integrate with the surrounding amenity of the railway station, Pioneer Dairy, walkways and sporting fields.
The future of Tuggerah features prominently in the proposed Central Coast Regional Plan 2041.
Tuggerah is pitched as an area which will step up to become a ‘Regional City’, behind Gosford that will be refashioned as a ‘Metropolitan Capital’.
The report states, “Tuggerah will emerge as a regionally significant mixed-use centre with the 15-minute neighbourhood at the heart of its transition to a well-connected town centre”.
A redevelopment of Tuggerah has long been on the cards.
In early 2019, it was announced that the government was backing a proposal from shopping centre owners Scentre Group and its partners to invest $2.1B into the area giving the green light to an expansion of Westfield.
Scentre Group is yet to reveal the scope of the project and when it is expected to start.
An update from Council on the proposed Fiducia site has been requested.
Nicola Riches
I just hope they have a plan for traffic. It already builds up at the intersection of Bryant drive and wyong Rd. Makes it hard to exit the carport from the other shopping centre as well.
Is anyone looking at the area as a whole and ensuring green corridors are maintained for wildlife? More hard surfaces will also mean more local flooding, particularly once the earth in concreted.
Big concern for traffic in this area. There is really only one road in and out and is already heavily congested especially at the Wyong Road Bryant Drive roundabout. Must be another road put in to ease traffic and should be done before the development even starts.
They’d better sort the traffic jams before they build. They’ve obviously never tried getting out of there on a Saturday!