Controversial $5m ‘Eat Street’ precinct approved by council

A controversial $5 million fast food precinct has been approved by a southeast council, despite concerns from some councillors and nearby residents.

A CONTROVERSIAL $5 million fast food precinct has been approved by the Toowoomba Regional Council, despite concerns from some councillors and nearby residents.

Developer Campbell Knox can move ahead with his planned “Eat Street Harristown” development along Anzac Ave, after the councillors voted 7-3 in favour of it at a special meeting yesterday.

The project’s layout included five food and drink tenancies, with access to the site from both Anzac Ave and local street Devine St.

Engineering estimates predicted that 250 vehicles an hour would enter and exit the site during peak periods, most of which going through Devine St.

The original motion was for the development to be knocked back, with TRC planner Krys den Hertog arguing that there were serious issues around the need for it, the vehicle access, noise generated, and the appropriateness of the design and location.

“On balance, with no clearly demonstrated community, economic or planning need for the development to be located at this site, and with operating hours between 6am and 10pm seven days per week and primary vehicle access via a local street, this development is considered to unacceptably diminish local residential amenity for traffic, noise and headlight intrusion,” the report said.

“Acoustic barriers adjacent to Devine St, which mitigate noise generated within the site, but not within Devine St, limit pedestrian activation and built-form response at Devine St and ultimately indicate overdevelopment of the site, an inadequate design response, or inappropriately located development.”

These concerns were shared by local resident Royce Hodge, who said living opposite the precinct would make life harder for his family.

“This (traffic) will be from 6am until 10pm every day, so for 16 hours a day, these residents won’t be able to get access in and out of their own properties without some sort of congestion issue,” he said.

“It’s a domestic street, it’s a residential area – do we really need this commercial site there now?”

Precinct Urban Planning’s Andrew Bullen, who spoke on behalf of Mr Knox, made a spirited case for the development and its benefits to the local area.

Mr Bullen said the immediate Harristown area around Anzac Ave was not currently being serviced by a “local centre”, where the project could fit in.

“There are real economic benefits with this centre — the project itself has a value of $5 million, there will be 200 jobs during construction and 60 jobs once operational,” he said.

“The residential uses on Anzac Ave are compromised from an amenity perspective.

“The facility we’re proposing provides things that are needed and not present in the catchment, which would suggest it is responding to need.

“Unless local centres are pre-existing, they’re not pre-zoned, and the planning scheme puts parameters which says that where a need is demonstrated, it can be accommodated.”

Mr Bullen said the developer would mitigate noise and light impacts on neighbouring residents.

Concept art for the approved Eat Street development.

Cr Anne Glasheen moved the alternate motion, arguing the economic benefits outweighed the potential local impacts.

“This street has basically turned into a commercial activity, (and) this development is similar to other developments (we’ve approved), so the layout of this is similar,” she said.

“With the amount of traffic on Anzac Ave, making it a local centre seems to be the right way to go.”

But Cr Bill Cahill was scathing of the plan, particularly around the decision to move vehicles through a local street.

“Here we see another poor example of commercial ingress and bleed into a residential area,” he said.

“I could support it if it was only access onto Anzac Ave, but I’m not going to support it (if it’s) to the detriment of residents.”

Cr Cahill, Deputy Mayor Carol Taylor and Cr Nancy Sommerfield voted against it.

Cr Joe Ramia, who is a part-owner of the land the development is based on, was absent from the meeting.