The wheels are finally in motion on the long-awaited Florida Beach shopping centre in Dawesville, with the developer recently putting a modified design out for public consultation.
If passed, the development will be based around a Coles supermarket with other shops and services including a liquor store, child care centre, gym and associated car parking.
The developer's report states the centre will create about 250 jobs during construction, more than 120 ongoing operational jobs through the supermarket, gym and childcare, and additional opportunities within the specialty retail stores.
The proposal is a shovel-ready project that is fully funded by developer Coles Group Property Developments (CGPD), with construction is scheduled to start around the middle of this year, with a target practical completion in April 2022.
Situated at 71 Dandaragan Drive near the Caltex service station, the Crown Reserve lot to the northwest of the site has been identified for the development of a future community centre to be operated by the City of Mandurah.
The initial plan, similar in size and configuration to the new proposal, was approved after a final design was agreed upon with the City.
The council had requested the main frontage to be on Dandaragan Drive and this was the proposal approved through the Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) in June 2015.
Since that time the approval has been extended by the City for a further four years until April 2021, and a further two-year extension has been automatically applied as a result of the state government's response to COVID-19, making the approval now valid until April 2023.
However CGPD stated in an application it no longer felt the layout was "commercially viable, operationally functional having regard to contemporary CGPD standards and customer amenity requirements, or deliverable in the previous or current retail environment".
The report says this was evidenced by the fact CGPD hadn't acted on the approval despite the population growth in the Dawesville area since 2015.
With the development cost estimated at $19.425 million and development being outside the metro area, this allows the developer to bypass the JDAP and go directly to the Western Australian Planning Commission for consideration of the new site plan.
Among the reasons for not developing the site sooner the report says "the extent and configuration of approved specialty retail tenancies is unleasable under current market conditions".
It also states the design doesn't give adequate circulation for servicing vehicles and the plans would provide a "poor relationship with the planned community centre fronting Woodstock Avenue owing to the location of the approved loading and servicing areas".
The posting of the public consultation link from the WA Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage on the Dawesville Community Facebook page has met with a range of responses from residents.
Some were concerned about traffic noise and congestion, others said there were enough amenities already, while still others were overjoyed by the prospect of finally having the shopping centre they were promised years ago.
Public consultation is open until April 28.
To have your say on the proposal go to consultation.dplh.wa.gov.au/reform-design-state-assessment/shopping-centre-dawesville/.
