26 November 2019

KFC dumped in revised plans for Koko Molonglo

| Ian Bushnell
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Koko Molonglo mixed-use development

An image of the proposed Koko Molonglo mixed-use development from the website. Photos: Supplied.

John Krnc Group has dumped a proposed KFC takeaway store from its revised plans for the Koko Molonglo development in Wright, as well as reducing the number of apartments and increasing parking.

The company has lodged the revised plans for reconsideration after its original application for a staged mixed-use development across seven leases on the corner of Steve Irwin Way and John Gorton Drive was knocked back in August.

Original plans for the proposed eight-storey Koko Molonglo mixed-use development in Wright included 158 residential units, a 1500 square metre supermarket, five retail shops and basement parking, as well as a future 100-room hotel.

The apartment complex and hotel remain at eight storeys but now include 132 units and 91 rooms, and the company believes it has addressed concerns from the planning authority about traffic, a lack of pedestrian and cycling access, design, poor frontages and inadequate landscaping.

KFC has fallen foul of a public outcry about its suitability for the site.

ACTPLA also required the company to provide a Master Plan to clarify the extent and scale of the development.

It shows the first stage, the apartment complex with ground-floor retail and commercial space including the supermarket and a liquor store; and future stages – the hotel, a smaller four-storey mixed-use complex, including 17 apartments and a further nine townhouses.

The revised plans also show an internal pedestrian and cycle network with connections to public pathways and the public park to the west. A public plaza with grass and shade trees has been added, with a pedestrian bridge connecting it to the residential units in the main apartment block.

Koko Molonglo revised plans

Plans for the proposed eight-storey Koko Molonglo mixed-use development in Wright.

The reconsideration document says the lower level shared zone has been enhanced with greater variety of pavement, landscape and street furniture to create a ”high quality, safe and integrated space with good connectivity to other proposed leases and the plaza area”.

It says the revised plans include more active frontages and increased setbacks.

While the apartment block remains at eight storeys, it has been stepped back on one side and the building height lowered at the interface with existing residential development on Gornall Street, to reduce the scale and maintain solar access.

The Traffic Report says an extra 61 carparks have been provided for the residential apartments, bringing the total to 294, and 14 have been added to the commercial area for a new total of 173.

It says the site has an expected traffic generation of up to 377 vehicles in the AM peak hour and 470 vehicles in the PM peak hour, and this will have minor impacts to the future performance of the intersections, and negligible queues at the basement entries and exits.

There are four access points: direct access from the Steve Irwin Avenue/Banjo Paterson Avenue roundabout; two two-way access points along Gornall Street at the midblocks between the Steve Irwin Avenue/Max Jacobs Avenue and Max Jacobs Avenue/John Gorton Drive service road; and a single driveway from the John Gorton Drive service road.

The Koko Molonglo website says the mix of one, two and three-bedroom units will sell from $375,950 to $525,950. Commercial tenants include Woolworths Metro and BWS Liquor. KFC remains on the website but the revised plans make it clear it has been dropped.

With no progress in services being established in nearby Coombs, Molonglo residents may be more open to a revised Koko.

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In many new suburbs around Australia, youth delinquency and anti-social behaviour due to boredom had declined once fast-food restaurants had opened as they provided employment opportunities and a place to socialise. I can understand the health concerns but it should be noted what had happened in other new development areas.

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