It’s official: date set for $12m shopping centre revamp that’ll see three houses demolished
THREE houses will be demolished to make way for a shopping centre expansion in Adelaide’s south west: a start-date for construction’s been set as the developer agrees to last-minute changes to appease residents.
WORK will start in January on a $12 million redevelopment of the Brighton Central shopping centre after Holdfast Bay Council’s Development Assessment Panel approved the project.
The developer, MRS Property Managers, made several last-minute changes to its proposal to appease neighbours’ concerns.
These included extending a soundproof wall between the centre and houses, moving a bin storage area farther away from homes to prevent wafting odours and noise, and adding retractable bollards to prevent people driving through the carpark when stores are closed.
The Brighton Rd centre will expand from approximately 3400sq m to 4500sq m and 50 carparks will replace three houses behind the centre.
Residents of Rutland Ave, west of the centre, told the October 18 panel meting a gate linking their street to a carpark behind the main building would attract people to walk past their homes at night. They were worried staff would also congregate to smoke.
Locals said they would prefer it to be open only during shopping centre hours.
However, MRS planning consultant Rebecca Thomas said having the gate closed after hours would be unsafe because people could get trapped at the end of Rutland Ave, which is a no through road.
“People might come off the train, walk down the end of the road and then not be able to get through,” Ms Thomas said.
The panel decided to keep the gate closed but not locked.
Panel members were concerned that a council-owned lane linking the shopping centre to Marlborough St, to the shops’ north, would become much busier.
They added a condition that MRS pay for landscaping and gutters to prevent cars hitting fences on either side of it.
The company originally planned to start work in December but investment manager Carol Simons said construction would now begin in January.
A panel meeting due to decide on the application last month, was cancelled because it fell on September 28, the same night as the statewide blackout.
About 60 new jobs will be created at the expanded Foodland supermarket and specialty shops.