Beerwah has become ground zero in the supermarket wars as Coles attempts to force its way into the railway town despite being rejected by Sunshine Coast Council.
The shopping giant is fighting back in the Planning and Environment Court after the council unanimously knocked back its applications for a supermarket, homemaker centre, petrol station and fast food outlets like McDonald’s.
Rejecting Coles’ plans in July, council said the proposals conflicted with the town plan and the location outside the Beerwah CBD would have a “cannibalising” effect on the town centre’s businesses.
Many local businesses are strongly opposed to inviting a fourth major supermarket to Beerwah, which currently has a Woolworths, Aldi and Fresh & Save, two service stations and numerous locally owned takeaways.
However, Coles is arguing there is economic need in the growing hinterland village of almost 7,000 people.
In its appeal papers, Coles says there is a “community, planning and economic need for the proposed development” which it claimed would not hurt locally owned retailers.
“Any trading impacts from the proposed full-line supermarket will be directed primarily towards other major supermarket operators well placed to absorb such a change without undermining trading viability,” the appeal states.
Coles’ development location is on strawberry farmland east of Beerwah town centre, on the corner of Steve Irwin Way and Roys Road, which is zoned medium impact industrial.
The corporation proposes a “relatively novel but emerging concept” of a full-line supermarket and homemaker centre, but says it will exclude ‘specialty shops’ so as to reduce the impact on existing specialty traders.
The project includes a fast-food chain, most likely McDonald’s, which Coles says would stop people driving outside of town in search of popular ‘national’ fast food takeaway options which the area currently does not have.
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“The provision of an additional full-line supermarket within Beerwah is a reasonable expectation given its designation as a major regional activity centre in both the Planning Scheme and ShapingSEQ,” the Coles appeal states.
“There are no suitable alternative sites within the Major centre zoned land at Beerwah which could feasibly accommodate a homemaker style centre, or a full line supermarket to the same standard and scale of the proposed development.
“The proposed development supports and will enhance the major regional service function of Beerwah.”
However, Beerwah butcher Mick Driver said it would be “absolutely catastrophic” not just for smaller retailers, but for increasing traffic at the busy intersection, especially on weekends.
Mr Driver bought Meat U @ Home At Beerwah two years ago and has managed to almost double the business and build its reputation. He said it was a struggle competing against the major chains.
“It’s hard enough as it is let alone bringing in another meat supplier. I’m already up against Woolworths, Fresh & Save and Aldi and that’s not even a 1km radius,” Mr Driver said.
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“The economic need (for Coles) is not there. In my personal opinion it’s probably five years too early, it will end up like Birtinya which I think was five years too early and every time you go there it’s like a ghost town.”
Mr Driver said the development’s location at the major intersection on Steve Irwin Way would create a nightmare traffic situation, especially on weekends when the road was like a “carpark”, especially when drivers were avoiding a prang on the Bruce Highway.
“They should be trying to sort out the problem with the road before thinking about putting anything there,” he said.
“Don’t worry about shopping centres, they need to work out the roads.”
Noelene Frohloff has been selling produce on the western outskirts of Beerwah for 26 years and seen many other fruit shops come and go.
Frohloff’s Fruit Barn is the last fruit and vegetable store standing in Beerwah township and has survived the arrival of the big retailers because of its popularity with drive-market tourists.
Mrs Frohloff, who has just sold the business, said she did not think Coles would impact the store but she said the arrival in recent years of the major retailers had “killed” Beerwah’s other fruit shops.
However, Mrs Frohloff also said the CBD was so busy these days it could probably use a new supermarket location to ease congestion in the shopping centre.
Others against the project include Village Fair Investments, the owner of the Beerwah Marketplace and Beerwah Village Shopping Centre, which wrote a formal opposition when Coles first lodged its development application in 2019.
Village Fair Investments’ submission said the Coles development “failed to stack up” and did not fit with the area’s ‘industrial’ designation in the town plan.
It said the township already had two service stations only 1.5km away and the Coles development application could not justify the need for another.
Steve Williams, general manager of the Coochin Creek Fruitgrowers Cooperative, which operates a service station, said the wider district was “competitively and adequately serviced by 10 fuel stations already providing the cheapest fuel on the Coast” and did not need another.
Mr Williams’ submission said the major supermarket would also draw customers away from the co-op in the centre of town.
“This proposal will seriously undermine the viability of our business and it will ultimately take turnover out of the town centre,” he wrote.
“Due to the multiple businesses being proposed… our business will be hit hard from multiple angles.”
He said the Coles project would hurt the co-op’s team of more than 30 local employees, as well as more than 450 local primary producers that owned the business and traded through it and many local suppliers.
“Doing business in Beerwah is an extremely challenging and already highly competitive environment and with the additional threat of large scale retail developments such as this it will place not only our business as a high risk but the many other smaller traders within the main CBD district adjacent to our business,” wrote Mr Williams.
Others against the project included Paul Krassaris from the Beerwah Pharmacy & Medical Centre Pharmacy and Toby Zaremba of PCR Development Pty Ltd.
