Plans flagged for new Guzman y Gomez fast-food Mexican restaurant in Bendigo

Plans to redevelop Bendigo’s old Pizza Hut have returned with “significant changes” after the $1.8m project was initially knocked back by council. Here’s the latest.

Guzman Y Gomez could be replacing Bendigo’s permanently closed Pizza Hut. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A taste of Mexico could be coming to Bendigo replacing the old Pizza Hut restaurant near the centre of town.

A developer has proposed turning g the old Pizza Hut on the corner of High St (Calder Highway) and Violet St into a Guzman y Gomez Mexican fast-food restaurant with a drive thru and dine-in restaurant seating for 60 people.

The development application also seeks a liquor licence to sell alcohol on the premises.

Site of a proposed Guzman y Gomez Mexican fast-food restaurant in on High St, Bendigo. Picture: Habitat Planning.

The Mexican restaurant, which has already established a foothold in Melbourne, would operate 6am to 11pm Sunday through Wednesday and 6am to 2am Thursday through Sunday.

The project anticipates about 10 employees working per shift.

The initial plans were filed with Bendigo Council in January, but were knocked back in April with requests for “significant changes”.

Guzman Y Gomez could be replacing Bendigo’s permanently closed Pizza Hut. Pic: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Town planner Sharon O’Brien told the council the proposed building had now been relocated to the south eastern corner of the site to align with High St, with 11 car parks and drive-through queuing located at the rear of the lot.

The revised plans have also scrapped any outdoor dining, and include “improved streetscape interaction”, with better pedestrian access.

The proposed construction materials have also been changed to better assimilate with the surrounding neighbourhood.

Bendigo Pizza Hut. Picture: Emile El-Azar.

The council also told the developers to do better with the total landscaped area of the site, but still fells short on meeting the requirement of a 50 per cent tree canopy shading the car park.

The developer stated in planning documents the site was already limited to commercial development by the old Pizza Hut, and claimed the new restaurant would not negatively impact the amenity of surrounding homes or affect traffic flow.

“The number of patrons is not anticipated to create an adverse impact on the amenity of the surrounding area,” Ms O’Brien said.

A traffic impact assessment found the project would see an additional 120 cars per hour in the surrounding streets during evening peak hour.

The Pizza Hut has long been a fixture in Bendigo Picture: Paul Weaver.

The developer is asking for the amount of on-site parking to be reduced, claiming the surrounding street and off street parking would be enough.

“When the on-site carparking provision is anticipated to be exceeded (weekday evenings), surrounding businesses are closed and there is on-street carparking available to accommodate the overflow carparking,” the traffic impact assessment states.

The public exhibition period is complete, and the proposal will be assessed and determined by council.