Council approves new supermarket

A SECOND Aldi store for Bundaberg can start construction following final approval by Bundaberg Regional Council’s planning and development committee.

The committee also revealed the store may have a shopping centre next to it down the track.

Chairman Ross Sommerfeld said the Aldi, to be built on a site on Greathead Road near the intersection with FE Walker Street, was first approved by the council about 12 months ago.

However, the developers had concerns with some of the conditions the council imposed, mostly to do with noise control and signage, and negotiated to change them.

Cr Sommerfeld said one of the concerns was that the rest of the 12ha block of land on which the store is to be built, owned by prominent Bundaberg developer John Santalucia, was zoned residential.

The Aldi group was concerned the store would end up with a housing development as a neighbour.

But Cr Sommerfeld said with the completion of the ring road, the council expected the whole block of land would eventually be given over to commercial development, although that could take years.

A needs analysis had been completed and identified there was a need for a small shopping centre in the area.

“We need an increase in the population before we get more development out there,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Aldi said yesterday only very preliminary planning had been done for the new store and no start or end dates for the building had been finalised.