25 September 2006

Epicentre legal wrangles set to get nasty

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times has a summary of the legal threats to Canberra’s proposed second Direct Factory Outlet planned to be built in Fyshwick.

With the airport’s “Brand Depot” failing to impress anyone except gullible CT hacks it remains a wonder as to why anyone would press ahead with such a monstrous development but the shopping centres are preparing to sue over the legal irregularities surrounding the development approvals.

Does anyone really anticipate that so many people are going to drive all the way to Fyshwick for slightly older crap than they get at their local mall?

As usual the lawyers will be the real winners.

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Let’s face it guys, this whole issue has been drummed up my Mr Snow in an attempt to get rid of DFO, because that would mean that Brand Depot would have some kind of competition (god forbid!!!). Brand Depot can’t offer half the brands that DFO can and as an avid shopper I say BRING IT ON!!!

Interesting to note that Zed Seselja seems to be drumming up media attention about this??? Maybe Snow’s media advisor is secreatly working for the shadow minister as the material looks the same…Anyone noticed that it is getting closer to election time???

Nah ME, dept has a contract with Deane’s, but it seems Snow bought in too. A brief detour we are told. My bottom….

Al, are they using the existing “Airliner” Airport Shuttle to take dickheads out to Bland Despot?

Yesterday Snow had the hide to say that the Epicentre would “cause a traffic nightmare in Fyshwick”. Is he for real??? What about the bloody traffic nighmare he’s caused around the airport?
And now our shuttle bus out there is taking a lovely detour of the Brand Depot just to add an extra 10 minutes to the trip.

If they DID open something like the Moore Park centre at Epicentre, I think it would do well. If people could park right where the shops are, so they could buy their Bulky Goods, they’d come. If they could lure Ikea down, all the better.

what they would NOT come for, is another boring crap Westfield, yuck.

*sniff* I love you guys, let us never fight again.

thumper, my bad. i hadn’t taken that bit in.

unbeliever and thumper, i think the point is that the act government could have made a lot more than $39M if these other groups (westfield, other shopping centre developers, and yes even mr snow) had known that the epicentre site had been zoned for retail, not just bulky goods. for some reason the government chose not to publicise that: and now the government is saying that austexx just asked the right questions. (right…) sure westfield etc are operating out of self interest. but why didn’t the government try to maximise its return on the sale of the land by making sure all bidders knew about this?
the auditor-general’s report on this will make for a very interesting read.

The ACT got $39 million big ones for this site, which was unused in a location that traffic only ever passes. And now the Shopping Centre Council (what the f#>* !) want to have a say over what becomes an urban/town centre?

This whole sordid story is full of self-interests representing themselves as victims of unfair competition, Terry Snow, Westfield, and I’ve even see a bit of criticism from Mayor Pangallo over the border where the QCC has delivered that wonderful shopping strip that is Crawford St – and what a mecca of attractive appeal this is!

What a bunch of whingers? Hey if this new DFO fails then that’s the market for you. But either way the ACT got $39 million for a site which wasn’t used and will have been improved on in terms of infrastructure in the end.

well they’re probably toasting their flack for getting the CT to run their lines and who cares what internet gumblers think?

I’m really beginning to get ticked off with all this arrogant crap from Snow and Co – they must think we’re thick to believe in the first place that the delay in opening was “because of the cold weather” then when it opens “that people were coming off flights and going shopping, then going shopping before catching flights” and then now that the shops experienced record breaking turnover” on day 1 of trading? – How unusual! To be fair I think Snow and Co simply need a new Media Advisor rather than the inept one they have at present.

Hmm….interesting:

Brand Depot director Tom Snow said yesterday that the response from Canberra shoppers to Brand Depot was phenomenal.

The 72 new shops experienced record-breaking turnover.

Sorry, I’m not really up on record-keeping and statistics (aside from knowing that 71% of all statistics are made up and that the other 31 and 58% are extremely hard to verify) but how would a brand new set of ‘shops’ have any sales ‘records’ to break in the first place?

Sounds like the existing shopping centres will eventually end up being the winners here, with folks eventually realising that Canberra shopping is actually pretty bloody good.

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