Harris Farm Turramurra: new plans and pictures released

It looks more like a holiday resort but this is in fact the proposal for a new supermarket in Sydney’s north, complete with a homestead, conservatory, food trucks and much more.

A cafe, florist and food trucks are among the features of Harris Farm’s latest plans to develop its next Sydney outlet in Turramurra.

The fresh food retailer has released a $26.3 million proposal to turn the Honeysuckle Garden centre into three buildings anchored by a new ‘neighbourhood supermarket’.

Harris Farm has been trying to develop the site since 2018 but has faced opposition from some residents over potential impacts on small businesses in the Eastern Rd Shopping Centre along with traffic congestion and noise.

A concept plan of the site.

The outlet would feature food trucks.

The newest plans for the 45-47 Tennyson Ave and 105 Eastern Road site would include a two storey ‘homestead’ building that would house the main supermarket.

A ‘conservatory’ building would be home to cafes and retail including a florist and bakery, and a third building – known as ‘the barn’ – would have takeaway food and drink areas, food trucks and outdoor dining areas.

Other features include 115 on-site carparking spaces, a native garden and a ‘log play’ area for the kids. The outlet would trade from 7am to 10pm, seven days per week.

The supermarket would include outdoor dining areas.

An aerial plan of the site.

The latest plans are a slight change of heart from earlier proposals that included edible gardens and 58 basement carparks.

The lengthy planning process has involved Harris Farm jumping through multiple hoops including seeking approval from Ku-ring-gai Council, the local planning panel before successfully applying to rezone the site from ‘R2 residential’ to ‘B1 neighbourhood centre’ through the Department of Planning last year.

Harris Farms said the latest plans have responded to earlier concerns, resulting in the main ‘homestead’ building located closer to Eastern Rd, while parking has been moved to the rear of the site.

A concept plan of the development.

The store would trade from 7am to 10pm.

“The proposal will generate positive social effects for the community by providing retail premises that will improve the quality, choice and convenience of services in the local area,” the plans stated.

“It will generate also additional employment prospects for the local area with approximately 120 full and part-time jobs – many of them are likely to be filled by local residents.”

An economic impact study commissioned by Harris Farm predicts there would be a 5 per cent net negative impact on the Eastern Rd Shopping Centre but “may be less” if businesses can capitalise on the extra foot traffic expected to be generated by the supermarket.

The development would border Tennyson Ave and Eastern Rd.

Plans have been lodged with Ku-ring-gai Council.

The store is expected to generate $15.8 million in sales once open in the 2023/24 financial year and is likely to draw trade from larger supermarkets including at St Ives and Westfield Hornsby.

The supermarket is not the only Harris Farm outlet in the works for the north shore with the company also planning to open at the former Coles site in Lane Cove.

While plans for the Turramurra have generated critics, many locals have also supported the proposal with a petition in favour of the company coming to the suburb previously topping more than 800 signatures.

The latest proposal was lodged to Ku-ring-gai Council this week and is currently under assessment.