Woolworths Glen Iris: Residents’ anger over proposed supermarket and apartments

First it was the old ABC studios in Elsternwick. Now a supermarket giant wants to go big in another inner Melbourne suburb, and locals aren’t impressed.

A six-storey complex with a Woolworths and 90 apartments is being proposed at 173 Burke Rd, Glen Iris. Picture: Supplied.

Residents are up in arms over a new bid by a supermarket giant and a developer to transform a biscuit company hub in Glen Iris.

Woolworths and developer Time and Place plan to splash $61m on a five-storey complex at 173 Burke Rd with a state-of-the-art supermarket and 85 apartments above it.

The plans also include more than 300 underground carparks on three levels, 62 bike spaces and a BWS bottle shop.

The 4305sq m site, part of which is used by Arnott’s, was bought by the two groups for an estimated $30m earlier this year and plans were lodged with Stonnington Council in April.

Developer Time and Place and Woolworths want to build a new store and 90 apartments in Glen Iris. Picture: 173burke.com.au

Nearby residents were letterboxed by the two companies last month, who said they had revised plans to ensure the proposed development was not out of character with the area.

They included landscaping to protect neighbours’ privacy, more underground parking and use of “materials which reflect the heritage characteristics of nearby homes”.

A community consultation session was held on Wednesday night with another one planned later this month.

Wattletree Rd resident Megan Tarrant, who lives 500m away, has started an online petition against the project which had received about 170 signatures.

Ms Tarrant said the proposed centre was “ghastly looking” and she feared backstreets would be used by trucks at early and late hours, impacting on the Central Park precinct.

She also said a Woolworths supermarket was already located not far away at Malvern Central shopping centre.

“The scale of it is not in keeping with the neighbourhood,” Ms Tarrant said.

“We have sufficient supermarkets, we don’t need any more, it’s just going to detract from the area.

“This is a beautiful part of Melbourne with three nearby schools and we don’t need corporates trying to profiteer off our heritage areas.”

Woolworths state development manager Don Foulds said the company remained “excited about the opportunity to deliver a high quality mixed-use residential and retail development”.

Mr Foulds said the revised plans came from community feedback from the past 12 months to ensure its proposal was responsive to community needs.

He said Woolworths was looking forward to “answering questions and talking to as many local residents as possible” during consultation.

It is not the first time Woolworths has attempted to set up a new store with apartments on top.

Glen Eira Council rejected a second pitch to build a 10-storey high rise at the site of the former ABC TV studios on Selwyn St in Elsternwick in August.

A Stonnington Council spokesman said the plans would soon be formally advertised for public consultation.

The spokesman did not say how many objections the proposed project had received, despite 10 objections already being lodged on the council’s ePlanning website.

“We will only have full oversight of objections once the public notice advertising is complete,” the spokesman said.

Arnott’s has been at the Glen Iris site for 15 years and plans to move to a new location for its Victorian operations next month.