Bayswater North: VCAT blocks bid for super servo including drive-through Carls Jr, Guzman Y Gomez

For burger lovers, it would have a must-visit in Maroondah. But plans for this cult classic to set up shop have been rejected.

American burger chain Carls Jr was going to be part of a super servo planned in Bayswater North. Picture: Andy Brownbill

A cult burger shop’s plans to open its first Melbourne drive-through restaurant in Maroondah have been scuttled by the local council and VCAT.

The tribunal rejected an appeal by developer Jasbe Bayswater North to transform the corner of Canterbury and Dorset roads in Bayswater North with a 24/7 super service station.

The site, at 154-156 Canterbury Rd, is home to a used car dealership and opposite an identical set of retailers including a Shell service station, fast food joints KFC and Hungry Jacks, and a La Porchetta restaurant.

Under Jasbe’s plans, the car dealership would have been bulldozed and replaced with a Metro service station with 12 refuelling points, a five-bay car wash, 68 carparking spots and 21 bicycle parking spots.

It also planned to include drive-through Carls Jr and Guzman N Gomez restaurants and a cafe, with room for more than 200 diners.

Maroondah Council rejected the application in March 2020, deeming the project an overdevelopment for the site and holding concerns over its layout, traffic flow and inadequate landscaping.

It led to an appeal from Jasbe and a two-day hearing held in September.

Tribunal members Mary-Anne Taranto and Kate Partenio upheld the council’s decision when they handed down their verdict on March 1.

The duo expressed major concerns over fuel tanker access, noting the site layout meant they would partially block a driver entry and exit point on Dorset Rd during deliveries.

“The primary shortcoming of this proposal relates to the fuel tanker delivery arrangements which we have concluded would not promote convenient, safe or efficient vehicle access,” they said.

“We also find that the pedestrian arrangements throughout the site and car wash related vehicle movements across the service station building frontage would not be acceptable.”

Carls Jr has opened nine stores across Victoria in the past two-and-a-half years with its only drive-through in Shepparton.

Despite the refusal of the project, Guzman Y Gomez will open a Croydon store on Maroondah Highway later this month, at the former home of a Hungry Jacks restaurant.