New Coles plans 'three times the size of original'

Application submitted to council shows Eat Street-style complex

The vacant block at Oak St, Andergrove where Coles proposes to build. Picture: Stuart Quinn

EXCLUSIVE: Grocery giant Coles will go toe to toe with a competitor in Andergrove, with expanded plans for a shopping complex submitted to Mackay Regional Council.

The nearly 5000sqm shopping centre on Oak St will be in direct competition with the well-established Woolworths next door.

Development plans obtained by the Daily Mercury, show the complex will be anchored by a Coles supermarket and have an outdoor 'eat street'-style dining precinct, liquor store, speciality stores and 221 parking spots.

The shopping centre site was cleared for earthworks last year. Tight-lipped developers declined to give a date on when works would begin at the time.

Developer Coles Group Property Development Limited has had a development application on the Oak St site since 2011, before a time extension on the plans was approved by the council in July 2015. However, the developer's new proposed design for the complex is nearly three times the size of the original, and over-rides existing approvals.

Original plans included a combined floor space of 1275sqm for eight tenancies, with space for a healthcare centre and a detached fast food outlet on the Oak St side of the complex.

New plans proposed a 4940sqm complex with no detached fast food site and space for two speciality stores, a Coles, and a Liquorland.

The development application also revealed plans to "integrate the pedestrian experience" between the new centre and the Woolworths by creating an "active street experience" along the front.

Neither Coles nor their town planners could be contacted at time of publication.

Originally published as New Coles plans 'three times the size of original'