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Preliminary Pittwater Council - Woolworths Development Agreement for Newport

Pittwater Council has previously agreed to negotiate the sale of the land it owns at Foamcrest Avenue in Newport to the Woolworths supermarket chain.

The Council voted at its meeting of 2 March 2009 to proceed with a negotiated sale of the Council-owned land for an agreed price of $4.55 million plus GST. In addition, Woolworths will provide a further 56 publicly owned car parking spaces in perpetuity at no cost to the Council.

The sale of the land is subject to a successful rezoning and development application for the site to accommodate a ‘full-line’ Woolworths supermarket and a public car park.  A preliminary development agreement  has been prepared in respect of the proposal and its commercial terms - this documentation is subject to finalisation.

The history of the site

The existing car park is actually composed of three separate sites, one area in the middle which is currently owned by Fabcot Pty Ltd (Woolworths) and two each side of this, which are owned by Pittwater Council.

Although the area is commonly used as a public car park, it is generally viewed as a site that is under-utilised and suitable for renewal.

The Council has previously attempted to amalgamate and redevelop the site through its previous owners and by public offer. However, these have not resulted in a redevelopment proposal that would offer sufficient benefits to the local community.

In July 2007 Woolworths purchased the middle portion of the site from the previous owner. Woolworths then approached the Council with a proposal to purchase the Council-owned sites and amalgamate the three into a retail development.

It is the Council’s view that any redevelopment of the Foamcrest Avenue site should help revitalise Newport, provide increased public parking and a commercial return to Council.

The Newport retail area is being revitalised through an extensive masterplan incorporating landscaping, traffic management and other improvements. The Newport Masterplan was developed in close cooperation with local residents and business-owners over an 18 month period.

The Woolworths proposal

In brief, the Woolworths proposal is for a "full-line" supermarket and specialty retail stores. There would be a car parking to service both the proposed development and provide additional public car parking.

As the Council has an interest in any redevelopment, being a joint owner of the site, the rezoning and development applications will be independently assessed and determined.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to provide comment in respect of the redevelopment proposal.

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