German retailer Kaufland is facing growing opposition to its plans to open six stores in Victoria.
The latest objection has come from Whittlesea Council, which is calling on Planning Minister Richard Wynne to reject the company’s application to build a supermarket in Epping.
Kaufland’s proposed sites including the Epping site, Mornington, Dandenong, Oakleigh South, Chirnside Park and Coolaroo.
There are concerns the opening of Kaufland’s signature hypermarkets, which can be as large as 20,000sqm, will have a damaging effect on other grocery retailers in the area.
The Mornington site, for example, is already surrounded by other supermarkets, including two Coles supermarkets, a Woolworths, Aldi, Foodworks and several other smaller boutique grocers.
Kaufland has requested Wynne change the planning scheme provisions for the sites, with Wynne calling in the rezoning proposals for assessment by an advisory panel, overriding local municipal councils.
Whittlesea Council is concerned Kaufland’s proposal is not in keeping with the local structure plan. It will make a submission to the advisory committee voicing its opposition to the proposal in its current form.
Cr Sam Alessi told Star Weekly: “If this proposal goes through, it will cut off all the planning this council has done for Epping Central. It will fly in the face of pre-planning.”
In a report to last week’s council meeting, council officers said they would ask the committee for a master plan to demonstrate how Kaufland’s proposal would accommodate the structure plan and integrate with surrounding developments.
The committee will hold public hearings this week before making its recommendations.
Metcash is backing a campaign by its independent supermarket customers in the FoodWorks and IGA banner groups to stop the rezoning of large sites that do not currently permit retail uses.
IGA Mt Martha’s Rod Allen told News Corp: “The Government is giving the German Chain an unfair advantage over local shops by going around local government planning processes and using the Minister to re-zone so mega stores can be dropped onto local communities with all profits to be taken offshore and not spent in the local community.
“Any initial increases in employment will be more than offset when local shops are forced to shed labour as their businesses suffer.”
The campaign is also being supported by the Master Grocers Association, which claims the Kaufland superstores will decimate many smaller supermarkets.
MGA’s chief executive Jos De Bruin told Smart Company: “We already have activity centres in local communities that are robust, if you suddenly have another shopping centre-sized development, that will have an impact on the community.”
A Kaufland spokesperson said: “Our history shows we can co-exist with smaller retailers. Our growth has always come organically, not at the cost of competition.”
