Plans lodged for supermarket precinct in Our Village Eumundi development

Plans have been revealed to transform the longstanding Eumundi Butter Factory into a shopping centre as part of a race to become the suburb’s first supermarket.

Design concepts for precinct three of the Our Village Eumundi development were lodged with council. Picture: Jared Poole Design

Plans have been revealed for a shopping centre in Eumundi in place of a longstanding structure as two developers vie to deliver the first supermarket for the region.

Innovative Planning Solutions lodged the plans with Sunshine Coast Council on behalf of family-owned company JL JL Pty Ltd for 124 Memorial Drive, 18 Elizabeth Street, 9 Caplick Way and 1 and 3 Cook Street in Eumundi.

The development named “Our Village Eumundi” features four precincts, with the latest development application outlining predominantly precinct three.

The supermarket precinct will spotlight pieces of the former butter factory. Design concept: Jared Poole Design

The Formosa family who own the Eumundi Butter Factory site have planned to transform the block of land into a single-storey shopping centre.

Louise Formosa, a spokesperson for the family, said the group had been in negotiations with future potential tenants.

The application revealed the main tenant for precinct three would be a 1521sq m supermarket, alongside four specialty “boutique” businesses

The site is located less than 1km away from Eumundi State School, Eumundi Post Office as well as the showgrounds and a bus stop.

Precinct one will feature a food and retail hub with a piazza area for visitors to gather.

Design concepts for precinct three of the Our Village Eumundi development were lodged with council. Picture: Jared Poole Design

Ms Formosa explained approval was received in 2019 for the low-density, boutique organic and eco-retail shopping centre in precinct one on the Highway Motors site.

“We also received, at the same time, a preliminary approval on the butter factory precinct that allows for up to 1000sq m of shopping centre use plus residential zoning, therefore it is already approved for a commercial precinct,” she said.

The precinct three development will include 183 car parks and 23 motorcycle spaces, a 5m landscape buffer for surrounding neighbours, footpath upgrades and a roundabout at the Caplick Way/Napier Rd intersection.

Precinct four, formerly a railway line area, would be an open space area with pedestrian and cycle pathways, as well as a play area and small amphitheatre.

The butter factory had been running for decades in Eumundi before its closure in 1974, the application read.

Design concepts for precinct three of the Our Village Eumundi development were lodged with council. Picture: Jared Poole Design

From the 1980s, the building hosted weekly craft markets as well as a micro brewery until it shut down in 2004 when the site changed ownership.

The structure was damaged in 2005 by two fires and has been in disrepair ever since, documents stated.

“Whilst the current old butter factory ruins are not structurally useful, we are looking to preserve or add to the design what we can to retain as much history as possible,” Ms Formosa said.

Documents stated there was a “strong community demand and economic need” for additional shopping opportunities and a grocery store in the township.

“Eumundi does not provide the level of service, local amenity, including a supermarket, and economic fundamentals which are features of other hinterland towns,” the application stated.

The context plan for the supermarket on the site of the old butter factory at Eumundi. Picture: Supplied

With the Eumundi Trade Area expected to grow to 3390 households by 2036, the development was proposed to support the growing population’s needs.

A fact sheet from Our Village Eumundi outlined the town centre had limited space for expansion, with residential developments moving outwards.

“If Eumundi is to retain a town centre focus, the butter factory site is the only viable town centre option left,” the fact sheet stated.

“It is important for a town’s economic viability to maintain centrality whereas there are plenty of options for residential development to expand outside the town centre.”

It is expected precinct one would be completed by 2025 before starting works on precinct three.

Another supermarket proposal by Altum Property Group previously criticised the precinct three plans as they applied to the Planning and Environment Court in September in response to Sunshine Coast Council’s “deemed refusal” of their complex