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Court agrees to remove electrical infrastructure conditions on IGA development

A $1.5m expansion of a Sunshine Coast supermarket is a step closer after a court ditched some conditions council placed on it.

GROWING NEED: The concept design for an extension of the IGA at 4 Jones St, Mooloolah Valley which would bring a wider retail range to the hinterland town.
GROWING NEED: The concept design for an extension of the IGA at 4 Jones St, Mooloolah Valley which would bring a wider retail range to the hinterland town.

A $1.5m expansion of a Sunshine Coast supermarket is a step closer after a court ditched some conditions council placed on it.

Developer Bridgeman Enterprises no longer needs to install underground electrical cables and remove pole-mounted transformers at a cost of more than $150,000, as part of the extension to IGA Mooloolah.

The company lodged an appeal with the Planning and Environment Court against Sunshine Coast Council to have the conditions removed.

Bridgeman Enterprises - directed by Vincent Paul Ferraro - argued that the expanded supermarket would operate comfortably with existing electrical infrastructure.

Judge Glen Cash agreed and said the two conditions would be set aside and instead the developer must raise and tension the overhead wires at Hatten Street.

Court documents showed the council wanted underground electrical infrastructure because it would provide general benefits and improvements to visual amenity.

Mr Cash said the planning scheme encourages undergrounding electrical infrastructure but conditions for this particular development were "not appropriate".

Owners of IGA Mooloolah Roz and Michael White. Picture Patrick Woods
Owners of IGA Mooloolah Roz and Michael White. Picture Patrick Woods

The developer's plans to expand the IGA at 4 Jones Street by two thirds, from 911sq m to 1522 sqm, was approved in January 2019 with 65 conditions.

It is understood the expansion would offer the community a greater range of general groceries, fruit and vegetables, bakery goods, deli items including more seafood lines and read-to-go meals.

An additional 10-12 jobs would likely stem from the expansion within the community predominated by working families.

The application's economic overview outlines IGAs in the surrounding townships are considerably larger than this proposal, including Woombye's 1000sq m; Palmwoods' 300sq m; Landsborough's 400sq m; and Glass House Mountains' 400sq m.

Nearby Beerwah has Woolworths, IGA and Aldi supermarkets.

The store is one of five managed by Roz and Michael White.

Power cuts homes, but no rain damage

Originally published as Court agrees to remove electrical infrastructure conditions on IGA development

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sunshine-coast/business/court-agrees-to-remove-electrical-infrastructure-conditions-on-iga-development/news-story/28747b98863e48f53e7f5c474406354b