By Matthew Sims
Cardinia Council has taken another step towards welcoming bulky goods retail stores and a gym to the Lakeside precinct, after providing written consent to allow 8 Portobello Road to be used for restricted retail premises or a restricted recreation facility.
During the Town Planning Committee meeting on Monday 4 March, councillors passed a motion to provide written consent to amend the Covenant, which restricts the type of uses allowed to operate on the subject land without the written consent of Cardinia Council.
The provision of written consent under the Covenant does not negate the need for a planning application to submitted to council and assessed against the Cardinia Shire Planning Scheme.
Currently housing a Dan Murphy’s bottle shop, developer Portobello Road Investments also provided development plans and reports to allow the council to undertake a preliminary assessment of their proposal, which seeks to construct two new buildings on the undeveloped portion of the site to be occupied by three restricted retail tenancies and a restricted recreation facility.
The key features of the proposal included modification and expansion of the existing at grade car park resulting in the provision of 129 car parking spaces in total, a new vehicle access point from Princes Highway to provide access and egress to the subject land and display of business identification signage and a pylon sign along the Princes Highway frontage.
Access to the 1.217-hectare site would be provided from two two-way crossovers from Olympic Way and Portobello Road.
The subject land formed part of the Lakeside at Pakenham project, a joint venture between the council and Delfin Pakenham Limited.
The officer’s report said the proposed uses for the land would add to retail opportunities in the area.
“It is considered that planning policy and relevant strategic documents support the use of land for restricted retail premises along the Princes Highway frontage and that the proposed uses will not detract from the core retail element of the centre which is configured to address Lakeside Boulevard,“ the officer’s report said.
“The use of land for restricted retail purposes will complement the function of the Pakenham Home Centre and serves to connect the two activity centres.“
Toomuc Ward councillor Stephanie Davies said she was keen to see the proposal when it came before the council formally.
“I’m really excited to see what comes next,” she said.
“Our population is booming.”
