Devinlea Pty Ltd plans to demolish and rebuild Imbil Friendly Grocer shop
A popular grocery shop is likely living on borrowed time, with its owners asking Gympie Regional Council for permission to redevelop it.
Gympie
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A popular 60-year-old grocery store in Imbil is about to get a major facelift with its owners revealing they want to bulldoze the building and replace it with a new shop.
Devinlea Pty Ltd has asked Gympie Regional Council for permission to pull the Yabba Rd store down.
If approved, the new shop would open from 5.30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and from 7am to 6pm on Sundays.
The plans show 21 parking spaces would be provided, with part of the new carpark elevated.
Inspector Empire Engineering said its inspection revealed structural problems in the building.
Dry rot and possible termite damage were found at the shop.
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The inspector said the shop would likely suffer “significant structural damage” should an intense storm hit the town.
Retaining walls around the shop would need repairing or replacing too, it said.
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The report said fixing these would be complex and costly and the entire building would need to be razed.
The inspectors said it might be unfeasible to fix these issues due to the cost and it would likly be cheaper to replace the shop.
Devinlea has owned the shop since 2010, Corelogic RP Data records show.
In response to the report, the shop’s owners have proposed tearing it down and replacing it with a new store.
The land is listed as local heritage on Gympie Regional Council’s register, the application says, but this is due to it use for commercial purposes rather than any of the building’s architectural design.
Keeping the block as a shop comply with the heritage register, the application says.
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