Sheer cheek of food giant

CAIRNS Regional Council, if it can, should knock back a request from Woolworths to extend an approval for a proposed supermarket and shopping centre at Gordonvale.

The council initially opposed the project but the fresh food giant won an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court, costing ratepayers in the vicinity of $600,000 in legal costs.

After winning the battle back in 2015, the supermarket group now has the audacity to ask for a six-year extension.

The development on the Bruce Highway has caused a lot of angst in Gordonvale. Traders fear the 3200sq m centre, which will feature a Woolworths supermarket, retail specialty stores, fast food and a petrol station, will destroy the CBD of the town.

It was something the council was only too aware of in its original rejection.

Gordonvale is already suffering with a McDonald’s fast food outlet and a service station on the highway opposite the Woolworths site.

To add insult to injury, the fire and police stations are no longer in the CBD but on the western side of the highway too.

The current Woolworths approval is due to expire in November this year so its property arm, Fabcot, wants an extension to November, 2025.

Last year Woolworths made a big song and dance about starting construction for completion by the middle of this year but nothing eventuated. The project dates back nearly 10 years and has not been generally welcomed.

It has been a public relations shame for the corporate giant. Nick Dalton Deputy editor