No progress on Highfields ALDI despite approval from TRC

ALDI has not yet appointed a lead contractor or announced a construction state date for its new Highfields site, 18 months after it was approved.

The supermarket giant has been locked in a dispute with the Toowoomba Regional Council over its financial liability for key pieces of new infrastructure on Highfields.

A spokeswoman for ALDI confirmed it was still working through the “development approval”, despite the new site being approved by the council in December 2017.

“At this stage, we are working through the development approval and have not yet appointed a contractor for construction,” she said.

“We have not secured a date for construction to commence, but we will continue to keep the community updated as our plans progress.

“Once open, ALDI Highfields will also be supported by a team of 15-20 full and parttime employees, providing a rewarding career opportunity.”

According to reports on the council’s property development portal, ALDI is appealing its approved request for a negotiated decision notice.

While the negotiated decision notice raised several smaller issues around bulk earthworks, landscaping and footpaths, the major sticking point was ALDI’s refusal to construct and pay for a new roundabout on Highfields Rd.

“Firstly, it is important to point out to council officers that council has been collecting infrastructure charges for the upgrade of Highfields Rd,” Planit Consulting’s Bede Emmett wrote in 2018.

No public reference of a case in the Planning and Environment Court can be found specifically between the two parties.