Supermarket giant splits up prime highway site
The wheels of progress at the old Bunnings Warehouse site in North Rockhampton turned again this week after a major development.
The wheels of progress at the old Bunnings Warehouse site in North Rockhampton turned again on Tuesday, August 12 with council approving the accelerated development of 12 townhouses after a major supermarket project was delayed due to legal action.
The four-bedroom townhouses had been slated as stage four of the Coles Group development of the site in 2023 but has now been pushed forward.
The townhouse green light includes subdividing the 2.66ha site on Yaamba Road into two lots and supersedes a previous development approval in 2023 which included the townhouses, a Coles Supermarket, liquor store, a specialty store and outdoor seating, a specialty store and showroom.
Councillor Grant Mathers said Coles would now need to lodge a new independent development application for the supermarket and other proposed projects.
He said he was pleased to see the townhouse proceeding as the Rockhampton Region was “screaming out” for more housing.
“Basically they have changed the order of development,” he said.
The owners of Stockland Rockhampton had appealed the 2023 approval in April 2024 claiming in part that there was not sufficient need demonstrated to warrant approval of the proposed development, and that the proposed supermarket would unacceptably impact existing centres.
However the appeal was discontinued in August 2024 following major amendments to the 10 year review of the Rockhampton Region Planning Scheme.
The approved townhouse project proposal involves creation of a separate lot with an area of approximately 3,450m2 to contain the twelve four- bedroom townhouses.
The remaining balance of 2.3ha of the site will remain available for future commercial development.
The proposed townhouses have a maximum building height of 8.5m over two storeys and include a total of 30 carpark spaces, including six visitor spaces.
The townhouses are to be accessed through three 7m-wide crossovers to Potts Street, with each vehicle crossover servicing four townhouses.
The dwellings are setback 4.3m from the southern boundary and 6.34 metres from the northern boundary.
A total charge of $222,710 is payable for the Material Change of Use component of the development.
Coles Property Group bought the entire 2.66ha in 2018 for $9.9m after Hardware giant Bunnings relocated further up Yaamba Road in North Rockhampton, leaving its former 8000sqm warehouse building at 452-488 Yaamba Rd vacant.
Coles submitted multimillion-dollar plans in June 2022 for a shopping centre, showroom and 12 four-bedroom townhouses.
