The proposal, put forward by Urban Capital Group, is for a new Woolworths supermarket, medical centre, pharmacy, 183 car bays, landscaped area and a loading dock off Waverley Road on property next to the established Coolbellup Shopping Centre.
A Development Assessment Panel Application is currently out for public consultation.
Cockburn’s planning and development services director Daniel Arndt said the city’s officers would prepare a report and recommendation, with the matter to ultimately be determined by the State Government’s South-West Metro Joint Development Assessment panel.
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READ NOW“The proposal, if approved, would provide employment opportunities not currently available in the area and would provide more shopping opportunities for the local community,” he said.
The former tavern site was meant to be underpinned by 150 residential apartments and some ground floor tenancies. That development application was approved in late 2013.
But the developer decided against progressing down that path and in February proposed an amendment to the Coolbellup Town Centre Structure Plan.
At the time, shop owners within the Coolbellup Shopping Centre objected to the change because there would be a duplication of services, threatening the viability of the existing centre.
The city acknowledged that “perception”, but said Coolbellup was a growing suburb capable of accommodating both centres. It also argued the matter was an amendment to the structure plan, not a development application.
“The proposed structure plan amendment does not propose to alter the underlying zone of the subject site nor does the application propose to alter any of the permissibility aspects of the zone,” an officer’s report to council read.
“This application seeks to reposition the ‘Mixed Use’ and ‘Residential’ components, both of which are permissible, on the subject site.” Martin Dawkins, chairman of the council of owners at the Coolbellup Shopping Centre, said he was unlikely to make a submission on the latest application, despite objecting to the change to the structure plan in February.
He said his shopping centre, where he has run a newsagency for 33 years, was also undergoing refurbishment work.
Space for future residential development is noted in the new application.