A NORANDA nursery could soon be developed into the suburb’s second neighbourhood shopping centre after Bayswater council rezoned the site to a business.
Noranda Hills Nursery owner Bill Ntoumenopoulos bought the site on Camboon Road in 1984 from its original owners who opened the business in 1963.
The proposed scheme amendment to the City’s Town Planning Scheme No.24 with an overlaying special control area (SCA) was deferred in June 2016, before being passed by council at itsNovember 7 committee meeting.
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READ NOWCouncil decided to limit the maximum height of the development to 7m and rejected the owner’s Local Development Plan (LDP).
The proposed shopping centre includes an Aldi supermarket with a 1756.5sq m gross floor area, retail, a 7-Eleven convenience store and petrol station with eight fuel bowsers and about 186 car bays.
According to an officer’s report, officers did not support the amendment due to the centre being within 650m of an existing activity centre (Hawaiian’s Noranda) and it went against State strategic planning frameworks.
The report said initiating the amendment might undermine the preliminary engagement for the local planning scheme.
Coronada Development Service managing director Gene Koltasz, who addressed council on behalf of the owner, said the nursery’s competition was running them out of business.
Mr Koltasz said the adjourning properties of the proposed Aldi store were supportive.
TPG town planner Lewis Shugar, who spoke on behalf of Hawaiian Investments, said the “unplanned centre” would compromise the delivery of goods and services from Hawaiian’s Noranda.
Councillor Filomena Piffaretti, who proposed the amended motion, said the site was a great location for development as there was “nothing else” in the area other than Hawaiian’s Noranda.
“There are limited employment opportunities for people in the area,” she said.
“I don’t support the LDP submitted by the applicant but I would look forward to seeing a new plan.”
Mayor Dan Bull, who voted against the motion, said more consultation was needed before initiating a scheme amendment because of the Western Australian Planning Commission and State Administrative Tribunal ignoring the outcome of consultation for other recent proposals.
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