THERE is early support for plans to build a service station and three fast-food outlets on the western side of Bathurst.
A development application (DA) was lodged late last week, proposing to demolish the existing car yard at 98 Corporation Avenue and construct the new premises.
The plans name 7-Eleven, McDonald’s and Subway as three of the four tenancies, with the third takeaway food provider to be determined.
The site, while officially has a street address of Corporation Avenue, sits on the corner of Bradwardine Road and the Mitchell Highway on the border between Windradyne and Robin Hill.
While this area has a number of commercial premises, there are no petrol stations and little in the way of fast-food retailers.
Councillor Alex Christian said a development like this was “long overdue”.
“For a long time people on the western side of Bathurst have been calling out, particularly for a petrol station, and this development certainly ticks all the boxes,” he said.
The businesses named for the proposed development already have a presence in Bathurst, but he said they would be away from the other ones and they would provide new jobs to residents.
“We may get people say ‘What do we need a fourth Subway for? What do we need a third McDonald’s for? What do we need a third 7-Eleven for?’, but who cares? It’s jobs,” Cr Christian said.
“All these companies do their research before doing these things, and again they’ve got confidence in Bathurst.”
He expects that, if approved, the development would be “tremendously successful” purely for the convenience it provides for residents of Windradyne, West Bathurst, Llanarth and Robin Hill.
Cr Jacqui Rudge also thinks the development would be welcomed by people in those areas, saying that the second McDonald’s in Kelso and the newest petrol station in Kelso are all doing well despite not being new brands to Bathurst.
“I think the location is okay. There is nothing on the western entrance into Bathurst and if McDonald’s and Subway think it’s good for their businesses then it probably is; obviously they’ve done a business plan and think it’s good for their profit margins,” she said.
Neither Cr Rudge or Cr Christian believe the development would have a negative impact on traffic at this stage, noting that the applicant had already made changes to the plans for access to the site in response to concerns Bathurst Regional Council raised.
All the businesses that would be housed in the development are proposed to be 24/7 operations.
Extracted from Western Advocate