A market for liquor

At a recent State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) hearing, the local structure plan for the Drovers Place precinct was amended to allow for the inclusion of a hairdresser with a general training component and a liquor store.

Though the City of Wanneroo and WA Planning Commission (WAPC) opposed the amendment, a tribunal summary stated the liquor store and hairdresser were appropriate land uses.

It said they were consistent with the statement of intent for the precinct and would complement, rather than compete with, nearby activity centres.

Drovers Market Place landowner and Goldrange and Greenpark Asset director Ray Jackson said Coles had approached him in December 2010 to develop a liquor store after consultation with City of Wanneroo planning officers led him to believe a liquor land use was appropriate for the structure plan.

‘They (Coles) came to us with an offer to lease because we thought we were going to get liquor,’ he said. ‘We thought we had all this sorted out in the consultations with the City.’

Mr Jackson said that at the council meeting in February 2011, a motion was passed to delete 16 of the uses that were considered appropriate and agreed to during consultation with the City, which included liquor and hairdresser.

This led Mr Jackson to appeal against the decision at the tribunal to have those land uses included again.

‘It’s been proved in SAT that we don’t affect any businesses within cooee of us,’ he said.

‘We’re miles from any other liquor outlet apart from the one in Carramar.

‘It’s something that’s needed in the area and it was all proven that the area needed it badly.’

Wanneroo councillor Ian Goodenough said the SAT result was a good outcome for local economic development.

‘Due to its location, a large proportion of customers originate from neighbouring local government areas, attracting business revenue into the City of Wanneroo,’ he said.

The amendment to local structure plan 80 will need to be approved by Wanneroo Council before Mr Jackson and Coles can apply for a liquor licence.

A City of Wanneroo spokesman said the land uses permitted in Drovers Market Place were contained in the adopted version of SP 80.

He said the SAT had recently made a ruling on the WAPC’s adoption of the amendment to SP 80, which would be referred to Wanneroo Council for determination in the near future.

At previous SAT meetings, Mr Jackson also had drycleaning, laundromat and recreation centre (gym) reinstated, and added carwash. Plans have been approved for one auto bay, four self-serve wash bays and four vacuum bays with construction to start soon.