Toowoomba small business owners submit against proposed shopping centre by Barry, Mitchell Bernoth

A proposed new shopping precinct just metres from the Northpoint Shopping Centre has drawn the ire of local business owners.

Small business owners located near a developer’s planned new Toowoomba shopping centre have slammed the proposal, arguing it would threaten the financial viability of their own stores.

Barry and Mitchell Bernoth submitted plans in November for a new Woolworths-anchored centre on a large parcel of land on Ruthven Street in North Toowoomba.

The “neighbourhood centre”, which would also include a service station, specialty stores and a food and drink outlet, is proposed just 300m away from Northpoint Shopping Centre and its existing Coles and Aldi supermarkets.

PROPOSED: A 4300 sqm neighbourhood shopping centre with a Woolworths and service station has been proposed to the Toowoomba Regional Council.

New traffic lights are proposed to cater for the development along Ruthven Street, again just a few hundred metres from another set of lights.

The impact-assessable application has already drawn submissions from two business owners based in Northpoint, including Subway franchise owner Hazel Johnstone.

Ms Johnstone, who co-owns virtually all the Subways on the Darling Downs, argued the introduction of a Woolworths would affect business at the existing Coles supermarket.

“A Woolworths will not attract new customers to the area — customers will be shared between the existing Coles and a new Woolworths,” she wrote in her submission.

Subway franchisees Hazel and Mark Johnstone.

“At this point in time, a reduction in foot traffic in the centre will mean that Subway Northpoint will struggle to remain financially viable.

“As a fast food drive through is also proposed there is no doubt that this would definitely be the case.

“I can only imagine that other businesses in Northpoint shopping centre will experience similar hardship.

“Any of these businesses closing will mean less customers for other shops in this centre and reduce financial viability for all of us.”

A proposed Toowoomba shopping centre on Ruthven Street, which is just a few hundred metres from Northpoint Shopping centre to the north.

Charlie Pantalleresco of Charlie’s Shoes And Keys, also located inside Northpoint, said he believed the development also threatened his business’ future.

“I am a small-business owner with one staff member and I feel if the development is to go ahead I am afraid that I will not only have to dismiss my employee but I may have to close my store,” he wrote in his letter to council.

“Take a look at the Ridge Shopping Centre on Hume Street — behind it is the Kmart Plaza.

“I had a store at the Ridge and had to close due to the fact the Kmart Plaza took away a lot of customers.

“Do we really need another shopping centre? We want to grow not go broke.”

Developer Barry Bernoth. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Mitchell Bernoth of Bernoth Properties.

The council’s planning department has its own issues with the application, submitting an extensive information request to the Bernoths in late November.

Along with requiring a peer review of the applicant’s economic impact assessment, planning officer Krys den Hertog asked for a significant redesign of the proposal to fix issues around accessibility, build form, traffic impacts, landscaping, lighting, air quality and stormwater discharge, among others.

Mr den Hertog at the time said the plan did not fit the surrounding neighbourhood.

“The proposed development in its current form and scale is considered to represent an overdevelopment of the site resulting in undesirable development outcomes and unreasonable impacts on the nearby identified centres, established residential and industrial character of the area and the amenity of the surrounding sensitive land uses,” he wrote.

PROPOSED: A 4300 sqm neighbourhood shopping centre with a Woolworths and service station has been proposed to the Toowoomba Regional Council.

On top of finding 31 issues with the submitted traffic assessment report, the information request also discovered inconsistencies between the planning report and the submitted plans, particularly around the number of street trees slated to be removed.

“In total, council officers have identified 14 council trees which the current design requires to be removed,” Mr den Hertog wrote.

“The application identifies only 11, though there (are) significant errors, inconsistencies and omissions between plans and reports.”

The applicant has since requested more time to complete its response to the information request.