Bunnings booted from Brunswick after residents put up a fight

The saturation of local intersections, increased queue lengths, delays to public transport services, the need to change existing road conditions, loss of on-street parking and potential impacts on the design and safety of cycle lanes, were just some issues highlighted.

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Bunnings would not be drawn on whether it will appeal the decision or resubmit different plans.

“Naturally we were disappointed with VCAT’s decision not to grant a planning permit for a new Bunnings Warehouse in Brunswick, and will now review our options with the developer of the site over the coming months,” said Andrew Marks, the group’s director of property and store development.

“We’ve always had a variety of formats within our store network and each store is tailored to the local market, whether it is a smaller format store in a regional town, a multi-level store in an inner urban area such as Collingwood or Hawthorn, or a large scale traditional warehouse,” Marks said.

Stephen Rowley, a planning consultant who represented some objectors, said the development was a “really poor proposal and not the right location” for a vehicle-intensive Bunnings store.

The decision was a “terrific outcome” for locals, he said. “It was a pretty strong decision in terms of reinforcing residents’ concerns.”

The site’s owners will have to consider other future uses that are less traffic intensive or get the land rezoned for residential use.

Rowley said the proposed Glenlyon Road store would have replaced a small format Bunnings currently operating in Sydney Road, which is built in a traditional shopfront – rather than a warehouse – and with much less car parking.

The retailer appears reluctant to follow the Sydney Road model with similar small-format stores in other built-up city locations, instead trying to shoehorn in larger warehouses.

“VCAT’s decision made it much harder for them to go into central locations with big stores and lots of car parking,” he said.

Bunnings’ rampantly successful hardware model contributed $1.2 billion to Perth-based Wesfarmers’ bottom line over the half-year to December, underpinning a big chunk of its $56 billion ASX market capitalisation.

The chain’s warehouses, with their long leases to the blue chip tenant, are also hotly contested property investments.

A large format Bunnings store on the Midland Highway in Bendigo has just hit the market through Stonebridge Property Group agents Justin Dowers and Kevin Tong with expectations around $35 million.

The 11,606 square metre freestanding building has a 12-year lease to Bunnings with annual 3 per cent increases and returns rent of $1,606,000 to its owners. The warehouse franchise is now fetching yields around 4 per cent with the most recent store to change hands in Nowra, NSW going for $65.3 million.

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