Mildura South supermarket plan doubtful, says Milne

A MILDURA councillor fears an area earmarked for a supermarket at the Mildura South Neighbourhood Activity Centre could be left vacant for decades because no company would want to build a major outlet there.

Cr Glenn Milne said the proposed 2500sq m medium to full-line supermarket on Sixteenth Street near Ontario Avenue might be beneficial for residents living in the area, but it was unlikely to attract shoppers from outside the neighbourhood unless there was a “pretty good special”.

“I just don’t think a supermarket of that size will ever go there,” Cr Milne said.

“Aldi is only 1500sq m, so 2500sq m is a big supermarket,” he said.

“And why would people drive down there for a supermarket when you’ve got three supermarkets near the corner of Fifteenth and Deakin as well as all those other shops?

“It might be convenient to walk across the road for people living around it, but I just can’t see it happening.”

Cr Milne said that even at the initial planning stage he had concerns about the potential for a supermarket in the area.

“I have spoken to people who lease properties to supermarkets and who build them and they’re saying the supermarkets come along and tell us where they want to build,” he said.

“There are some very intense formulas that go to where, why, how and how big.

“Designating a piece of land and saying a supermarket will build there isn’t how it happens, not even in Melbourne.

“The supermarkets all decide where a good place will be and they come looking for that.”

He said he was concerned about a potential development delay should major supermarkets shy away from the designated area as he suspected.

“My concern is that it ties up someone’s land waiting for something of that size and how long are they going to wait?” he said.

“It ties up people’s finances and my personal belief is that it will sit there vacant for decades.

“Councils, in general, have got a responsibility, and so does the government, to make things as smooth and workable as possible with the least amount of red tape.

“We need a system that doesn’t end up sending people broke — there needs to be a clear and very sensible set of rules based on facts and figures and how supermarkets work.

“People can have a great vision and it might look good on paper, but there are some realities that you have to work around.”

Cr Milne said he believed the Mildura South Neighbourhood Activity Centre would be more suited to a smaller convenience-type store, similar to PJs FoodWorks in Deakin Avenue.