A 7-Eleven service station and drive-through McDonald’s have been approved for vacant sites in Alkimos, much to the disappointment of residents living nearby.
The $2.1 million 7-Eleven will include three pumping stations and a convenience store, while the $2.19m McDonald’s will include a restaurant and dual lane drive-through, on a site bounded by Marmion Avenue, Hawksbill Drive, Fontana Loop and Carlsbad Promenade.
The Metro Outer Joint Development Assessment Panel heard the site for the service station was originally zoned for mixed use but an amendment submitted in December 2020 saw it rezoned to commercial in November 2021.
However, the site for the McDonald’s had always been zoned for commercial.
Emily Hoglund, who owns land two houses away from the site, said she was told it would be for a small business or cafe, and her neighbours were told it would be for a doctor or physiotherapist.
“Not for a high-traffic business,” she said.
“I was told what colour to paint my house to suit the aesthetics of the estate and now they are going to put a service station and McDonald’s at the entrance.
“I wouldn’t have bought here if I knew this would happen. I wish I hadn’t signed with a builder so I could sell the land and go anywhere else.”
Ms Hoglund also raised odour concerns and questioned the need for the development, saying there was a McDonald’s “not even 1km to the south” and three service stations within 1km.
“There are so many other useful businesses we could have,” she said.
Fellow resident Brendon Hartmann also raised safety concerns, saying the traffic was already “extremely dangerous” for students crossing Marmion Avenue to get to Alkimos College.
And Milorad Vujicic raised issues with car headlights shining into surrounding homes and concerns with noise that would be “like turning on a vacuum inside the bedroom”.
He said the resident were “strongly demanding” the developments be relocated, and questioned why they weren’t being built on Santorini Parade where there were other businesses including a Coles and service station.
“It doesn’t have a place in our area,” Mr Vujicic said. “It is dangerous and not appropriate for the residents.”
Community feedback was also strongly against the developments with 124 of the 130 submissions on the service station opposed, as well as 168 of the 183 submissions on the McDonald’s proposal.
However, City of Wanneroo approval services manager Greg Bowering said a lot of work had been put into understanding how the traffic and access would work and he believed they were at “an acceptable arrangement”, with the city recommending both applications be conditionally approved.
Alessandro Stagno, of Apex Planning, representing the 7-Eleven application, said the risk of amenity impacts on residents was “very low”.
He said noise already existed in the area from the high traffic on Marmion Avenue and the site was lower than Carlsbad Promenade, which would prevent headlights shining into homes, as would a 1-1.5m-high hedge proposed for the entire frontage.
Mr Stagno also said the acoustic assessment demonstrated compliance at all times plus there were stringent controls and standards in place for service stations.
Robin White, of Transcore, also said there had been a lot of negotiations between Main Roads WA and the city regarding traffic and access, and both were supportive of the proposal.
And Josh Watson, of Planning Solutions, representing the McDonald’s application, added it was the most traffic studying he had been involved in for a development application.
Therefore, the applicants’ requests to delete conditions to submit revised plans to relocate the driveway on Hawksbill Drive as far as possible from the roundabout was approved.
Mr Stagno said the city had confirmed the proposed location was the best place for it and moving it further would interfere with future road plans.
Another request to delete a condition to provide “bidirectional” entry to the site from Carlsbad Promenade was also approved.
While Mr Bowering said the condition was intended to cater for local traffic and reduce the load on the main access from Hawksbill Drive, Mr Stagno said it could conflict with the internal flow of traffic.
In moving the amendment, panel member John Syme said traffic analysis showed the additional entry was not required and “anything we can do to keep traffic off residential streets, we should do”.
A condition to not use red, green or amber colours in the signage was also deleted, with Mr Stagno saying the site was not located anywhere near traffic lights and those colours featured heavily in both businesses.
Mr Syme also requested the applicant consider providing a landscaped screen on Carlsbad Promenade to provide continuity across both sites and to alleviate light and noise concerns for residents.
Panel member Sheryl Chaffer also added a condition to close the Carlsbad Promenade exit between 10am and 5am to also minimise any impacts on residents.
Other conditions included a management plan to detail how fuel tanker deliveries will operate and the 10m-high service station price sign to be reduced to 8m.
Mr Syme said while he sympathised with the concerned residents, the decision to approve was “logical” given the commercial land uses were “firmly established in the planning framework” and a refusal would easily be overturned on appeal.
He also said the applicants had done a “reasonable amount” to make sure the developments would not add to the existing traffic issues on Marmion Avenue, and the traffic and noise requirements had been satisfied.
However, Wanneroo councillor Frank Cvitan said he could not support the 7-Eleven because he felt it was more of a convenience store than a service station, which should have services such as vehicle and tyres repairs.
However, he did support the McDonald’s application saying it was appropriate for the commercial zone and the traffic issues had been comprehensively looked at.
“It meets all the requirements and in time, it will be a good thing for the area,” he said.
Cr Vinh Nguyen said he also sympathised with the residents who felt misled about the future of the sites but he was bound by the planning laws that showed the proposals were compliant for noise, traffic, odour and health.
He said the light concerns had now been addressed and overall, he did not think the developments would have a significant impact on the amenity of the residents.
Extracted from Perth Now