6 July 2012

Giralang development upheld by the courts

| johnboy
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giralang

The Supreme Court has finally passed judgment to affirm that the long delayed Giralang shops can be a restored to a functional community asset even at the expense of nearby rent-seekers.

Owners of nearby potential rival shops have been mercifully put in their place:

In the absence of persuasive evidence that the proposed development will put in jeopardy facilities already enjoyed by the community, the plaintiffs’ interests are simply that the increased competition provided by the development will have an effect on their profitability, based on how they currently run their business. In my opinion this is too remote to make the second and third plaintiffs persons aggrieved by the Ministers decision for the purposes of the ACT ADJR Act. As the first plaintiff is one step further removed in terms of the effect that the Ministers decision may have upon it, it follows that it too does not have standing to challenge the decision.

As for the “COMBINED RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION INC”, they get short shrift from Justice Burns:

The fourth plaintiff cannot be said to be a representative community body. As at the date it made representations concerning the proposed development, 18 May 2011, it had five members. It was only incorporated on 17 May 2011, the day before it forwarded its representations. It continued to have five members until 23 February 2012, when two of the original members resigned and 57 new members joined. There is no evidence that the fourth plaintiff has conducted meetings or consulted with the community. In their written submissions the plaintiffs say that the fourth plaintiff was formed to represent the first, second and third plaintiffs “and others” with respect to “the question of economic impact on local centres”. The fourth plaintiff has not demonstrated that it has any interest such as to grant it standing to challenge the Minister’s decision.

And to finish:

As the plaintiffs lack standing the application for review of the Minister’s decision must be refused.


UPDATE 06/07/12 12:56: Simon Corbell is celebrating his win:

“This decision is a win for the local residents of Giralang, and means that development can begin on a shopping complex that meets the needs of the local community,” Mr Corbell said.

“Giralang residents deserve to have shops close to their homes, to allow them to do the groceries without a long drive to neighbouring suburbs and to enjoy smaller retail shops and cafes in their local surrounds.”

The judgement of the ACT Supreme Court found the plaintiff’s arguments around commercial competition were not reasonable grounds to challenge the planning decision, and therefore found they had no standing to challenge my approval of the development.

The Court also rejected the grounds of objection put forward by the plaintiffs if standing had been granted.

“The Courts decision confirms the lawfulness of my decision to call-in the development and put to an end the long running issues with redevelopment of the site, allowing Giralang residents the same level of amenity enjoyed by many other Canberrans,” Mr Corbell said.

[Photo of Simon Corbell and Labor Candidate Yvette Berry provided by Simon Corbell’s office]

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niftydog said :

This is the first Woolworths in a “Local Centre” (ie; local shops) in Canberra. All the others are in “Group Centres” (ie; large shopping centres like Jamo, Dickson, Kippax etc.) Anyone got an example that proves me wrong?

Dunlop is just a woolies and a small carpark.

This is fantastic news though, I shop at Superbarn Kaleen, but have boycotted the Evatt and Kaleen IGA’s long ago thanks to their continued war to keep a derelict shop in Giralang. Giralang residents get constant letter drops with updates on the state of this and who is currently opposing it and causing hold ups.

What else could of gone there? A couple of townhouses with a primary school tucked in behind?

niftydog said :

This is the first Woolworths in a “Local Centre” (ie; local shops) in Canberra. All the others are in “Group Centres” (ie; large shopping centres like Jamo, Dickson, Kippax etc.) Anyone got an example that proves me wrong?

It’s the thin end of the wedge.

Jethro said :

Local shops needs little more than somewhere to grab your milk or bread when you have run out and maybe a takeaway of some sort.

Exactly. I’m not sure how a large Woolworths, a 24 hour petrol station, an untennanted “cafe” and some small, empty rooms really fits in with that requirement though.

Please can we all stop calling it a “shopping centre”? It’s a Woolies with a few broom cupboards tacked on the front!

Off the top of my head there is one at Bonner. Definitely not a group centre there.

This is the first Woolworths in a “Local Centre” (ie; local shops) in Canberra. All the others are in “Group Centres” (ie; large shopping centres like Jamo, Dickson, Kippax etc.) Anyone got an example that proves me wrong?

It’s the thin end of the wedge.

Jethro said :

Local shops needs little more than somewhere to grab your milk or bread when you have run out and maybe a takeaway of some sort.

Exactly. I’m not sure how a large Woolworths, a 24 hour petrol station, an untennanted “cafe” and some small, empty rooms really fits in with that requirement though.

Please can we all stop calling it a “shopping centre”? It’s a Woolies with a few broom cupboards tacked on the front!

Martlark said :

And, … Page and Aranda with Scullin heading that way. Does Grialang ‘need’ a shopping centre? I don’t think so. Belconnen, Gungahlin, Dickson and Kaleen are so close and well developed there should not be anything more there than a milk bar.

This. The days of the car-less stay-at-home mum are fast disappearing, and with them the best reason I can think of for little sets of shops in every suburb. The small suburban shops like those mentioned here will increasingly struggle to compete with the malls and the big suburbans (Hawker, Florey, Kippax, Kaleen).

devils_advocate9:57 am 09 Jul 12

Jethro said :

Sounds like a reasonable observation. You don’t need a major supermarket in every other suburb. The group centres and town centres are easy enough to access. Local shops needs little more than somewhere to grab your milk or bread when you have run out and maybe a takeaway of some sort.

Depends on your definition of ‘need’. Certainly when woolies had a local monopoly in Gungahlin, their prices were sky-high (even compared to woolies dickson) and service was terrible. Once the competition moved in (in the form of coles), magically woolies picked up their game and dropped their prices. Alas, too late for me, I was sick of the whole thing by this time and committed to returning to the inner north.

Of course, competition can and does sometimes go to far leading to oligopolies, which can screw both upstream suppliers and downstream consumers… so not clear whether Supabarn and Woolies can coexist, or whether it will be a de facto choice between one or the other.

Tetranitrate said :

Martlark said :

And, … Page and Aranda with Scullin heading that way. Does Grialang ‘need’ a shopping centre? I don’t think so. Belconnen, Gungahlin, Dickson and Kaleen are so close and well developed there should not be anything more there than a milk bar.

This message brought to you by Superbarn Kaleen.

Sounds like a reasonable observation. You don’t need a major supermarket in every other suburb. The group centres and town centres are easy enough to access. Local shops needs little more than somewhere to grab your milk or bread when you have run out and maybe a takeaway of some sort.

On the other had, Woolies wouldn’t be investing in a new shop if they didn’t think it would be profitable.

devils_advocate8:37 am 09 Jul 12

Tetranitrate said :

This message brought to you by Superbarn Kaleen.

Haha.

Seriously, though, they’ll be fine so long as they maintain their policy of actually having an appropriate number of checkout staff relative to the amount of demand. I always avoid woolies just for the ridiculous lines they have.

Tetranitrate11:34 pm 08 Jul 12

Martlark said :

And, … Page and Aranda with Scullin heading that way. Does Grialang ‘need’ a shopping centre? I don’t think so. Belconnen, Gungahlin, Dickson and Kaleen are so close and well developed there should not be anything more there than a milk bar.

This message brought to you by Superbarn Kaleen.

Giralang had a great history supporting local development. Check out the Giralang Residents Action Group website for pictures from the 70’s – before Kaleen was around.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Giralang-Residents-Action-Group/111203278960807

Jethro said :

The current site is a disgrace. Urban blight simply shouldn’t exist in a wealthy city such as ours.

The abandoned shop buildings at Macgregor is another example… either develop it or bulldoze it and turn it into a park or something. Don’t just leave buildings abandoned and left to decay for years on end.

And, … Page and Aranda with Scullin heading that way. Does Grialang ‘need’ a shopping centre? I don’t think so. Belconnen, Gungahlin, Dickson and Kaleen are so close and well developed there should not be anything more there than a milk bar.

Rollersk8r said :

Felix the Cat said :

I wonder if a Woolies is really needed at Giralang? Not being anti-Woolies or anti-development but there is a Woolies at Dickson and Belconnen which are only 10 min drive away as well as a Supabarn at Kaleen which is probably only 5 min away.

Well hey – it’s been 7 years and will obviously be pushing into 8 or 9 years before the new centre is built and open for business. To be honest I can’t see myself changing my current shopping habits, which is 90% Belconnen Markets and Aldi. But, in my opinion, it’s about the bigger picture of the local community rather than the brand of the supermarket. I’m not the biggest fan of Woolies but at least you know you’re getting a strong anchor tenant that will stick around.

Whether or not they put a Woolies in, something needs to be done.

The current site is a disgrace. Urban blight simply shouldn’t exist in a wealthy city such as ours.

The abandoned shop buildings at Macgregor is another example… either develop it or bulldoze it and turn it into a park or something. Don’t just leave buildings abandoned and left to decay for years on end.

Felix the Cat said :

I wonder if a Woolies is really needed at Giralang? Not being anti-Woolies or anti-development but there is a Woolies at Dickson and Belconnen which are only 10 min drive away as well as a Supabarn at Kaleen which is probably only 5 min away.

Well hey – it’s been 7 years and will obviously be pushing into 8 or 9 years before the new centre is built and open for business. To be honest I can’t see myself changing my current shopping habits, which is 90% Belconnen Markets and Aldi. But, in my opinion, it’s about the bigger picture of the local community rather than the brand of the supermarket. I’m not the biggest fan of Woolies but at least you know you’re getting a strong anchor tenant that will stick around.

Felix the Cat7:24 pm 07 Jul 12

I wonder if a Woolies is really needed at Giralang? Not being anti-Woolies or anti-development but there is a Woolies at Dickson and Belconnen which are only 10 min drive away as well as a Supabarn at Kaleen which is probably only 5 min away.

Gira2617 said :

rosscoact said :

Living near a Woolworths I wonder if the adjacent residents know that the semitrailers deliver 24/7 with all the reverse beeping, clanging of steel ramps, fork lift manouvering etc etc that that entails?

As G said, it was a nice quiet place

Obviously you aren’t a resident, there is an IGA Semi trailer that unloads regularly at the 7/11 petrol station, and petrol tankers plus work trucks and delivery vans.

Oh and by the way, the plans for the shopping centre, clearly show that there is an underground loading bay to ensure that residents aren’t disturbed and the school children will be safe.

Yep, know all that. Good luck to you

G-Fresh said :

Rollersk8r said :

Finally! Great news for Giralang!

Was a nice quiet place for a while there

Yes, a quiet eyesore and disgrace to the whole suburb….

rosscoact said :

Living near a Woolworths I wonder if the adjacent residents know that the semitrailers deliver 24/7 with all the reverse beeping, clanging of steel ramps, fork lift manouvering etc etc that that entails?

As G said, it was a nice quiet place

Obviously you aren’t a resident, there is an IGA Semi trailer that unloads regularly at the 7/11 petrol station, and petrol tankers plus work trucks and delivery vans.

Oh and by the way, the plans for the shopping centre, clearly show that there is an underground loading bay to ensure that residents aren’t disturbed and the school children will be safe.

Great news for Giralang, as we always knew, the Combined Residents Action Group never consulted with the residents of Giralang or represented their best interests. Thank you to the Giralang Residents Action group for eight years of hard work, community meetings and keeping the faith.

The redevelopment will be annoying for a while, but the suburb will be better for it.

Living near a Woolworths I wonder if the adjacent residents know that the semitrailers deliver 24/7 with all the reverse beeping, clanging of steel ramps, fork lift manouvering etc etc that that entails?

As G said, it was a nice quiet place

Tetranitrate10:47 pm 06 Jul 12

It’s a real shame they didn’t step in more heavily back in 2005 or 6. Effectively the shops were closed from 2003 or thereabouts – as the owners deliberately ran them down and refused to allow leases to be renewed. For the last year or so before the shops officially closed, the only thing still open was the Vietnamese restaurant.

The deliberate destruction of the existing center and the businesses based there should never have been allowed to happen, and it should never have taken this long to sort the mess out.

Effectively Giralang has had no local center for nearly a decade and for much of that time had an ugly, fenced off vandal magnet instead.

Rollersk8r said :

Finally! Great news for Giralang!

Was a nice quiet place for a while there

Finally! Great news for Giralang!

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