Aldi’s proposed Currambine store gets conditional approval

DEVELOPMENT of an Aldi store in Currambine has been conditionally approved.

At last week’s Metro North West Joint Development Assessment Panel meeting, Sean Morrison, of Urbis town planners, said the site at 86 Delamere Avenue was the last major development lot in the Currambine District Centre.

“Traditionally, Aldi only pursues sites that are development-ready where the appropriate zoning and land use is already in place,” he said.

“This site is an exception where Aldi saw potential in this location and pursued a lengthy planning process to enable the application to progress.”

This included an amendment to allow for a shop at the site.

The $4 million development will be a “standard 1500sq m Aldi store” with 90 car parking bays, landscaping and capacity for additional retail.

Joondalup councillor Philippa Taylor asked why additional retail had been flagged for the site.

Mr Morrison said the site and car parking could accommodate it and Aldi had many stores that had additional commercial developments.

“Tenants often express an interest in being co-located with Aldi,” he said.

Joondalup planning services manager Chris Leigh added it would also “provide a more active edge”.

City officers had recommended the application be approved, saying the proposal met most requirements of its planning policies and those it did not were still “considered appropriate”.

“It is considered the land uses and built form are appropriate in the context of the site,” it said.

The proposal was advertised for two weeks, with the City receiving two submissions, of which one was an objection.

The submission said the development would increase traffic but the meeting document said a traffic impact assessment indicated there was “sufficient capacity within the existing road network to cater for the additional demand”.

At the meeting, Cr Taylor raised concerns of delivery trucks accessing the site during trading hours.

Panel presiding member Karen Hyde moved an amendment to add a condition for a delivery management plan that would indicate delivery times to be submitted to the City.

Cr Christine Hamilton-Prime also expressed concerns of the disabled parking bays “not abutting the facility”.

She said where the bays were proposed, people “who might not be very mobile” would still have to cross a section of road.

Ms Hyde moved another amendment to add a condition to relocate the disabled bays to the western edge of the building.

The application was then approved unanimously.

Mr Morrison said Aldi was “very keen to get started on this site” and was “hoping to start construction in the coming months and open prior to Christmas”.