Cairns: Gordonvale Woolworths housing estate subdivision plan gets extension request
Woolworths wants to build a big housing estate right next door to one of its most controversial shopping centre developments in Cairns — but there is a catch.
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WOOLWORTHS wants to build a big residential subdivision right next door to one of its most controversial shopping centre developments in Cairns — but there is a catch.
The supermarket giant’s property arm, Fabcot Pty Ltd, applied to Cairns Regional Council for a four-year extension to construct the handy new neighbourhood beside its approved Gordonvale West Shopping Centre.
It received the green light in 2016 to create a 216-lot housing estate on the former cane fields but now wants until 2024 to bring in the heavy machinery.
The Cairns Post understands a number of interested parties have put their hands up to either buy the land from Woolworths or work in partnership during the construction and sale phase.
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The council is yet to make a decision on the matter. However, its last refusal over the Gordonvale shopping centre development in 2015 resulted in a long court case that Woolworths won, costing ratepayers about $600,000.
Woolworths state development manager Chris Sheehan said the company was finalising the infrastructure agreement with the council for the extension of Fisher Road through to Draper Road, to allow construction of the road to start before the end of the year.
“On completion, the new road will provide customers easy access into the neighbourhood shopping centre and a much-needed road link further south,” he said.
“We expect … the shopping centre development to begin in early 2021 after the commencement of the Fisher Road construction.
“We will update the Gordonvale community on our timeline as we progress in the coming months.”
Mr Sheehan did not elaborate on the residential subdivision plans but said Woolworths was keen to get started on the entire project.
“We’re very excited about the opportunity to deliver an exciting new Woolworths supermarket to Gordonvale to meet the fresh food and grocery needs of local residents,” he said.
“The multimillion-dollar development will bring significant positive economic growth to Cairns, creating hundreds of jobs during the construction stage and over 120 retail jobs when the centre opens.”
Originally published as Cairns: Gordonvale Woolworths housing estate subdivision plan gets extension request
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