Hardware store in inner-city suburb gets council approval

A HARDWARE and trade supplies store slated for an inner-city suburb of Toowoomba has been approved by the council.

TRC officers were satisfied with the proposal to create a nearly 500sq m hardware store tenancy on Pechey St in South Toowoomba, just down the road from the hospital.

The new development would be built in two stages, with the main store, 15 car parks, loading bar and landscaping down first before a warehouse tenancy and another loading bay was added later.

Planning officer Peter Swan said in his report he was satisfied that the code-assessable application had met the planning scheme requirements.

“The proposed development generally complies with the assessment benchmarks or it can be conditioned to comply,” he said.

“Where the applicant has not provided sufficient information, conditions have been imposed to ensure compliance.”

Those 81 conditions covered a range of areas, including landscaping, waste management, fencing, stormwater and visual amenities.

In the original application from September, Precinct Urban Planning’s Paul Kelly said the developer Coonan Holdings wanted to demolish the existing warehouse and build a new structure.

“The final development will be built to boundary on the northern and southern side boundaries and rear western boundary with carparking, access and landscaped areas within the front setback which comprises 19.3m,” he wrote.

“The building will be slab on ground construction with tilt-up panel concrete walls that will include a textured finish to the front eastern elevation visible from the street.”

South Toowoomba doesn’t currently have a hardware store, with the nearest one being a Mitre 10 in Darling Heights.