SEVEN ELEVEN STORE DELAYED HARDWARE GIANT

The construction of the Bunnings store had been stymied as a result of the proponent being unable to negotiate the termination of a lease agreement with Seven Eleven which is due to expire in 2022. In addition Bunnings were unable to find a joint venture partner to complete the development.

Bunnings Amended

3 D Image of Proposal Click to enlarge

3 D Image of Staged  Proposal         Click to enlarge

As a result the building permit issued in May 2013 has been amended to enable Seven Eleven (south east corner) to continue trading during construction of stage one. A series of plans have been prepared with the submission which represent the construction of a large retaining wall that will be necessary to ensure the integrity of the Seven Eleven store in Stage 2 of the 3 Stage development.

The timing of Stage 2, which includes most of the the apartments proposed, is likely to only occur after Seven Eleven’s vacation from the site (i.e. upon its lease expiration, post 2022). Which could mean

the Bunnings store and only 99 apartments, out of the 258 proposed, would be built before 2024. This is a reduction of 127 from the 385 apartments previously approved.

Access & Entry

Access/Entry for customers & trucks etc                                          Click to Enlarge

The road works, originally earmarked to be completed after the construction of Stage 1, to create a deceleration turning lane from Doncaster Road and extra lanes into Council Street to cater for large trucks and customer traffic, will now be deferred. The applicant has now requested that these works be deferred until after the occupation of Stage 2 B… at the final stages of constuction.

Stage 1. will include the 11,119 square metre Bunnings store (trade supplies and restricted retail premises) at essentially ground and first floor level.

The 99 residential dwellings in a four level tower (L-shaped configuration) above the Bunnings from Level 3-6, inclusive. (see 3D image above)
Three levels of basement car parking servicing the development, including 2 levels (Basement 1 & 2) solely dedicated to Bunnings customers and 1 level (Basement 3) for the residential component.

Stage 1 will cover approx. 60% of the land with frontage to Doncaster Road. Stage 2 will cover approx. 20% of the land with frontage to Tower Street and a small frontage to Doncaster Road. Stage 3 will cover approx. 20% of the land with frontage to Council Street and a small frontage to Doncaster Road.

Council full agenda attached:

Amended Planning Application PL12 022747.01 – 659-669 Doncaster Road, 4-6 Tower Street and 1A-5 Council Street, Doncaster – REPORT (7)

2013 Minutes. Application 28th May 2013:

council minutes 28 may 2013 – full

13 Comments

  1. Handyman says:

    There must surely have been an agreement to “extinguish” the lease with Seven Eleven back in 2013 otherwise Bunnings would not have applied for a permit without it. The original permit did show the area currently occupied by Seven Eleven as part of the development and there was no mention of any problems in the application report put before councillors. Was this just a very expensive oversight?

  2. Talford says:

    The main thing is that we will have a Bunnings store. The six year period before further development is planned to occur will provide an opportunity to amend the permit again if the apartment market was to crash because of oversupply and the lack of infrastructure.

  3. Turana says:

    A plan notation outlining interim measures as part of Stage 1 that protect adjacent residents to the north from the noise associated with vehicles accessing the development whilst sections of the internal driveway remain open. A 2.6m high solid paling fence along the sections of the internal driveway in Stage 2 would satisfy this requirement.
    A solid pailing fence? How would that work?

  4. Pickford Bond says:

    Council street will be widened but not until stage 2B is occupied which could be more than 5 years. There will be substantial queuing in narrow council street during this period as a result of construction trucks accessing and leaving the site. There is no indication on where the children’s crossing and the speed hump will be relocated but I presume they will be moved north well beyond the northern boundary of the development. Residents from the north who usually use council street may have to seek an alternative route maybe using JJTully Drive to Council Street via Turana Street.

  5. George says:

    There is lack of pedestrian crossings for shoppers from the south of Doncaster Road. The light sequences at the only two crossings have limited time and are unsafe because traffic flow in Doncaster Road has been given priority. If council want more people to walk then they must provide the facilities. There is a subway to the east but is too far away from the shops and will be hampered by access difficulties through a lift in the building on the south side of Doncaster Road when it is erected. What is required is a pedestrian overpass to be built as soon as possible.

  6. Car Boot Shopper says:

    It might not be until 2024 or longer before the “The ultimate Functional layout plan”, to facilitate a safe and appropriate strategy to ingress and egress the development via Council Street, is completed. All that will be done in the meantime is the lengthening of the right turn access lane to enter council Street from Doncaster Road. What also concerns me is that traffic exiting Westfield via Tower Street is chock a block during busy periods so much so that west bound traffic turning right would be blocking the Doncaster Road outward lanes unless given priority with longer green light phases in Doncaster Road. You don’t have to be an independent traffic expert to realise, with the extra traffic generated by Westfield’s planned expansion, how difficult it will be for Tower Street to handle the extra traffic, including trucks, exiting the massive Bunnings development, not to mention the gridlock it will cause in Doncaster Road.

    1. Petro says:

      Council Street, which is the least suitable, will carry most of the traffic with apartment residents, customers, trade vehicles in and out as well as to cater for trucks entering. It would not be so bad if we had a proper street network like other main activity centres. Vicroads are hopeless they have made no objection to the traffic plan whatsoever…Bunnings have had to much influence.

  7. Jacob Andrews says:

    Professor Steve Keen of Kingston University has told the ABC that Australia’s current credit binge will lead to a bust as soon as next year, with house prices to fall between 40 and 70 per cent, (he never mentioned apartments) and unemployment to rise sharply”. “Spain was doing the same thing during its housing bubble and we’ve replicated the same mistakes”. “It will be even worse for us, we are the last idiot on the block”. He believes the Reserve Bank will be forced to take rates down to zero from their current level of 1.75 per cent as the economy continues to slow, but that will not stop the collapse of the credit binge that has kept the country afloat until now. “Lower rates will suck more people in for a while and the Reserve Bank can delay this for a while by cutting the rates”.

  8. Judith says:

    I could not find any mention of the Seven Eleven lease in the 2013 council document detailing Bunning’s previous application. Which tells me they were either prepared to wait until it expired in 2022 or had negotiated an earlier expiration date. Unfortunately neither has been the case which means, instead of planning the development so that construction vehicles would have alternate access, until after 2022, they now, with council approval, plan to use Council Street immediately without being widened for safe passage. Council have described this situation “as less than ideal” nevertheless have approved the plan despite the safety concerns of parents and teachers of the school for its 500 pupils, from 390 families, 52 staff and more than 50 volunteers on a daily basis.

  9. John Stanford says:

    The Bunnings building coordinator has confirmed that Bunnings purchased the land at 659 Doncaster Road, Doncaster, for the purposes of constructing a Bunnings Store and 258 apartments to be built in three stages, subject to a long term lease to Seven Eleven. There was an understanding beforehand that an early termination could be negotiated before it expired in 2022. Unfortunately this may not happen, and the widening of Council Street, to accommodate the extra traffic generated by the development, might not be possible because it would take part of the land occupied by Seven Eleven on the south east corner of Council Street and Doncaster Road. In the meantime Bunnings have given assurances that construction vehicles associated with the development will be using the Tower Street and Doncaster Road entrances only. It could be at least 12 months before construction of the stage 1. (Bunnings store and 99 apartments) will commence depending upon the terms and conditions of their agreement with their Joint venture partner .
    John

  10. Patrick says:

    There is enormous pressure being applied to consultants to come up with traffic solutions. I cannot see how these two major retail giants can coexist without adding to the already significant congestion and creating added further gridlock in Doncaster Road, especially near the intersection with Frederick Street and Tower Street. In particular, during the peak shopping hours, the Tower Street (Westfield) exit is already experiencing significant queuing and delays. Exiting vehicles turning right from Tower Street are often required to stop at Frederick Street (100 metres away) due to the high demand for pedestrians to cross Doncaster Road plus the trade entrances to Westfield and the traffic from the high rise on the opposite corner. During the peak shopping hours, this often results in vehicle queues spilling back and blocking the entire outward lanes in Doncaster Road / Tower Street intersection. There is a limit on what the VicRoads SCATS system, that detects oversaturation conditions, will be able to do in this situation.

    1. Nick says:

      To help pedestrians cross Doncaster Road safely, Manningham City Council had proposed a pedestrian overpass at the intersection of Frederick Street and Doncaster Road. However it would need to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which requires low gradient ramps. I can’t see how this is achievable anywhere on Doncaster Hill because of the narrow road reserves which would make the walk up approaches to steep.

  11. Bill & Rose says:

    As renovators we are pleased we will not have to travel the round trip of 15 km to Bunnings Nunawading for building materials. I hope they can get started soon before the predicted downturn next year. The traffic on Doncaster Road will be a problem but it will sort itself out, it will still be better than inner City.

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