Masters site spat

BY JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
GEELONG is set for its first Masters hardware store, council documents have revealed.
But its proposed location on the Bellarine Hwy at Leopold has attracted 162 submissions, including from mayoral candidate Keith Fagg.
Mr Fagg and brother Barry operate Mitre 10 stores at South Geelong, North Geelong and Wallington, the latter five kilometres from the proposed Masters site.
Council this week decided to ask Planning Minister Matthew Guy to appoint an independent panel to consider submissions on council’s structure and urban design plans for Leopold, including the Masters store.
A council officers’ report preferred Gateway Plaza shopping centre to expand along Melaluka Rd.
But Masters parent company Woolworths wanted frontage along Bellarine Hwy for the hardware store, outside the structure plan boundary.
The report said Gateway Plaza manager Lascorp supported Woolworths’ submission seeking expansion to a 35,000sqm sub-regional shopping centre east of Clifton Ave.
Woolworths believed its proposal provided “critical exposure and avoidance of increased traffic along Melaluka Rd”, the report said.
Siting of the Masters store was the main point of contention.
“Council officers maintain that a suitable site is the north-west corner of the activity centre inside the town boundary of Clifton Ave,” the report said.
The preferred site will have good access from a new signalised intersection at Clifton Ave as well as visibility from the highway only 200 metres away.
Expansion along Melaluka Rd avoided urban development in Moolap’s green wedge, the report said.
Fagg Bros Pty Ltd’s submission said any expansion should be staged to “minimise impact on the Geelong CBD”.
The Faggs also expressed concern at the impact on Ocean Grove traders, the report said.
The submission said existing demand was inadequate for a further 10,000sqm of home-maker and bulky goods retail.
Another 17,600sqm of non-retail and trade floor area should be included in the bulky goods space because it was also a retail activity, the Faggs said.
Council planning portfolio holder Rod Macdonald said the independent panel would be asked to consider the westerly expansion of the hardware store.