Westfield Doncaster applies for planning permission for $500m expansion

UPDATED: Westfield has been given the green light for a planned $500m expansion to one of its shopping centres in Melbourne’s east, two years in the making.

Westfield wants to complete a $500m expansion of its Doncaster centre.

MANNINGHAM Council has given the go-ahead to a massive $500 million expansion to Westfield Doncaster that has been two years in the making.

Now the next stage is for approval from the State Planning Minister Richard Wynne and public consultation.

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The upgrade will see 43,000sqm of additional retail-based floor-space which is set to include discount departments, speciality stores and expanding the cinema complex.

It is proposed to expand the existing Westfield Tower with an additional 18,000sq m of new commercial and office floor.

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There will also be further levels of car parking above the multideck car park with a new basement car parking to be constructed beneath the mall extension in the north-western corner of the site.

A new bus interchange would have nine bus bays and staff / passenger amenities with a new public forecourt leading into the centre.

The centre currently is about 105,000sq m in size.

Doncaster Shopping Town as it was in 1981.

Last night councillors approved amendments to the planning scheme which will allow the expansion to go ahead.

The sheer size of the development meant it fell outside the current planning scheme for Manningham, and the amendments will now streamline Westfield’s application for council permits.

Westfield has been working with Manningham Council, State Government, VicRoads and Public Transport Victoria in preparing for the expansion.

Cr Geoff Gough said Westfield was an icon of the area.

“It’s one of the biggest employers in Manningham and an iconic institution in the area. Doncaster Hill has grown around the shopping centre,” he said.

He said that plans to have public transport terminals at the front of the centre were “exciting”.

“Parking has been an issue, but the reality is we can’t provide parking for everyone for peak times like Christmas. One of the most exciting things is the concept of having public transport separated from traffic,” Cr Gough said.

Cr Steve O’Brian said he hoped Westfield would consult with the public.

“We ask Westfield to listen to our community. Right now is where the public can have their say on shaping the proposal and how it will look for decades to come,” he said.

Westfield Knox is currently in the middle of a $450m redevelopment to make it the second biggest in the country, while work is continuing on Chadstone’s $580m expansion.

Earlier this month Eastland completed its $665m extension.