Cap tactic to control Creek site

National retailers face caps on shop space in Armstrong Creek’s town centre despite an independent panel opposing them.
New state zonings have given Geelong’s council power to impose caps of 40,000 square metres.
Council and retail giants were at loggerheads over the restrictions last year. Coles and Woolworths argued the “unnecessary restriction” added “additional costs and inconvenience for the developers” of the 92-hectares precinct between Surf Coast Hwy and Boundary, Barwarre and Burvilles Rds.
A report to council this week warned that new shopping centres without caps could jeopardise the city’s “retail hierarchy … particularly the significant role of central Geelong”.
But the new zones allowed caps on shopping centres outside the metropolitan area, the report said.
Council planning portfolio holder Michelle Heagney said Armstrong Creek needed a “true main-street town centre rather than a big-box environment so typical in other new centres around the state”.
Council will send a new Armstrong Creek cap proposal to Planning Minister Matthew Guy for approval.