MANDURAH council approved the sale of 2 Aldgate Street to supermarket giant Aldi at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Despite two deputations and a 444-signature petition presented to council opposing the sale of the site, all present councillors except Jane Field voted to approve the plan.
“We’ve read all of the information regarding this,” councillor Fred Riebeling said.
“I hear the issues raised especially those of Jack & Jill Child Care Centre [which is next door to the site] but I think there is benefit here for the community.”
Cr Field said she believed the Aldgate site was not the most appropriate site for an Aldi store and the sale had been “a little rushed and slightly opportunistic”.
“I feel like we could look at different land and we must have some other land they could use,” she said.
“The store will impact the community by having a supermarket in the area.”
Jack & Jill Child Care Centre owner Shane Hoare and coordinator Emma Morgan presented deputations opposing the site sale to Aldi.
Mr Hoare said the City had done the “bare minimum” when it came to the sale of the land.
“Given the size of the asset … that’s a very poor effort,” he said.
Mr Hoare continued to question why there were no downsides or alternatives for the sale of the land to Aldi sited in the council report, which was prepared by City officers.
He added that while the site was currently used by Mandurah Woodturners, he would prefer the noise of that group’s machinery twice a week rather than the increased traffic which would occur if the Aldi store was built.
Councillor Ron Wortley said the issues of noise and traffic would be looked at at a later date.
“We’re not looking at whether we are going to build an Aldi but if we are going to sell the site to them,” he said.
“It’s sometimes hard to understand that these are separate even though they are intricately intertwined.”
The sale was given final approval on the condition Aldi receives planning approval.
Aldi has lodged a planning application with the City which will be determined by the Joint Development Assessment Panel however no date for this has been set as of yet.
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