Peregrine Corp launch new bid for OTR petrol station on Kensington Road

One of the state’s wealthiest families has made a fresh bid to build a service station on the site of an earlier doomed proposal — which generated protests and a legal challenge.

The Shahin family want to build an OTR petrol station on this disused Ozone Service Station site on the corner of Kensington Road and May Tce, Kensington Park

• Protest: ‘Why we’ll fight servo giant to stop this 24-hour shop’
• Residents stop OTR from building 24-hour servo
• Peregrine considers legal fight after losing bid

One of the state’s wealthiest families has made a fresh bid to build a service station on Kensington Rd, after its first attempt provoked community protests and a successful legal challenge.

The Shahin family’s business conglomerate the Peregrine Corporation has lodged plans for an On The Run complex on Kensington Rd, Kensington Park, six months after they lost a court appeal against a similar proposal for the former mechanic’s repair shop on the corner of May Tce.

OTR said it was confident the revised plan would be “more beneficial” for Burnside Council and the community.

“The new proposal for a renovation of the existing infrastructure is significantly different, as we aim to improve street presence, functionality, and traffic management concerns along Kensington Rd,” it said in a statement.

“Unlike the first proposal that anticipated a full demolition and rebuild of the site, we have revised it under the guidance of court judgement to now utilise the existing structure's footprint only.

“There are currently no retail fuel sites east-bound along Kensington Rd, which serves about 13,700 vehicles a day, and we believe this proposed OTR site will provide a much needed fuel stop for locals and passing traffic alike.”

Burnside Council’s publicly available development register indicates plans were lodged just before Christmas for an “integrated service station complex”.

The application, which is lacking in detail, has been designated a Category 1 development, meaning residents cannot lodge objections to the plans.

But a council spokeswoman said that would be reviewed pending council staff formally assessing the planning application.

The Full Court of the Environment Resources and Development Court last July rejected an appeal by the Peregrine Corporation against the former Development Assessment Commission’s refusal of an earlier initial $3 million plan, which was to operate 24 hours a day.

In their judgment Judge Jack Costello and commissioners Richard Green and Stephen Hamnett said the proposal would have “unacceptable” impacts on traffic on Kensington Rd and neighbouring houses and that the land was too small to allow safe movement of pedestrians and cars.

State Ombudsman Wayne Lines reprimanded state co-ordinator general Jim Hallion in July 2017 for taking planning authority for the application out of the council’s hands.

The Shahins faced vehement opposition from residents and Burnside Council when they lodged initial attempts for the Kensington Rd site, with residents and business owners holding a public protest against the proposal in November 2016.

OTR has stations nearby at Kensington, Hazelwood Park, Erindale and Norwood.