It’s home to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop and Chateau Tanunda … but a McDonald’s and KFC will soon sit next to Barossa vines in a huge new service station complex.
A new $15m service station complete with a McDonald’s and a KFC will be built in Nuriootpa – a project the developer says will be the first of its kind in the state.
The development – set for the corner of Belvidere Road and the Sturt Highway – was granted approval by the Barossa Council last week and will begin construction in April.
The project will include an X Convenience petrol station, KFC, McDonald’s, car, truck and dog wash, camper van dump point, an electric vehicle charging station and a picnic area.
Rocland Estate Family Winery, which owns the land, is behind the development along with planners Access Planning and McIntyre & Cross Architects.
Access Planning director David Hutchison expected the complex to be completed by the end of the year.
He said the development would be the first of its kind in SA for driver convenience and safety, replicating large interstate highway stops.
“It’s the first formal highway rest stop that’s been constructed in South Australia, if you look interstate, just about every state has highway rest stops which involve fast food outlets and provide large areas for people to relax and properly take a break,” Mr Hutchison.
“While OTR has built something similar out at Tailem Bend, this is really the first development using the interstate model.”
Mr Hutchison said the development would create hundreds of jobs and provide the Barossa Valley with its first McDonald’s outlet.
“This will be great for the region and brings a huge financial investment into the district, a single McDonald’s for example could generate 100-odd casual jobs,” said Mr Hutchison.
“What’s also important is the highway safety aspect as well, providing somewhere where people can have a break, its an hour out of Adelaide and right at the end of the dual section of roadway before the road narrows down to single lanes.”
“There’s such a range of uses going on in this development and we anticipate it will be similar to Tailem Bend or Port Wakefield‘s service stations, where drivers can have a break after leaving Adelaide or on their way in before they tackle the last hour.”
In keeping with its surroundings, the developers plan to take out and replant vineyards around the entry points to the complex, located next to the Rocland Estate winery.
Native trees would form the perimeter, as well as some introduced species to reflect the European history of agriculture in the region.
Extracted from Adelaide Now