Plans to transform Pakington St, Newtown laneway into shop
A laneway along popular Pakington St could be redeveloped and transformed into a shop under plans submitted to Geelong council.
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An empty Pakington St laneway would be redeveloped into a shop under plans submitted to the City of Greater Geelong.
The slice of land at the street’s Newtown end is wedged between grocer The Village Store and food outlet Burger Inc, and currently contains a refrigerated cooler, parallel parking spaces and access to an adjoining carpark.
Plans state constructing a shop at the 557 sq metre site, at 324-226 Pakington St, would cost about $450,000.
“The building will be an infill project which seeks to reflect the height of the existing
building on the site and provide a simple contemporary shop front,” the plans state.
“The building will replace the existing car parking and access way area.
“Aside from the removal of the existing cooler/fridge located within the access way area, there are no works proposed to the existing building.”
If approved, the store would be about 6.85m wide and 24.2m deep, with 155sq metres of leasable floor space.
It would also have two carparking spaces, an area for waste management and bike storage.
According to planning documents, if the development is approved, access between Pakington St and nearby John Place would be lost.
But the developers argue the lane is neither a carriageway or a legal road and there is no reason it should be retained.
“Generally speaking, any convenience which has been enjoyed via the access way for those using it as a means to access John Place from Pakington St has been borrowed in this regard,” plans state.
The developers also argue the proposal seeks to “utilise an underdeveloped parcel of land in one of Newtown’s most in demand activity centres”.
“The proposal has been designed to integrate into the streetscape seamlessly and reflects the overall development pattern and intensity of the surrounding commercial area,” the plans state.
“Whilst the site shares an interface with residential development, the scale of the development is minor and given the context of the site is unlikely to result in any amenity impacts.”
The plans are on public display on the council’s website, with no decision expected to be made until September 6.
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Originally published as Plans to transform Pakington St, Newtown laneway into shop
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