Court backs store at Torquay entry: Bunnings’ victory

JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
BUNNINGS has promised a jobs boon for the Surf Coast after winning its battle to build a $19 million store at the entrance to Torquay.
The company said it would hire 80 “local residents” to more than 100 jobs in construction.
A Victorian Supreme Court decision this week gave the national hardware giant a green light to start work.
The store bid drew widespread opposition from residents concerned about big-box retail development at the entry to Torquay and its impact on existing businesses.
Bunnings said it was pleased the court had “dismissed a challenge” to the store on Beacon Blvd.
Chief operating officer Peter Davis said construction work would begin in the next month.
“The new store has been designed specifically for the local Torquay market and is half the size of a traditional metropolitan Bunnings Warehouse,” Mr Davis said.
The store would cover over 6000 square metres and have parking for more than 200 cars.
Torquay Commerce and Tourism Association president Martin Duke said the community “sort of expected” the decision.
“It wasn’t the news we wanted to hear, it’s disappointing. We really didn’t want another shopping centre to open there,” Mr Duke said.
“We don’t want all the other big boxes to open up beside them. It will make Torquay look like another Waurn Ponds.”
Mr Duke said the appeals process was now exhausted.
Surf Coast Shire council rejected Bunnings’ initial application last year.
The company then appealed to Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which overturned the shire’s decision. Traders appealed the tribunal decision to the Supreme Court.
“They still have to abide by all the original conditions and there’s a lot of good conditions in there,” Mr Duke said.
“I don’t think they’ll start anything for quite a while, even though it’s only going to be a baby Bunnings.”