By Callum Ludwig
An exciting new development is being proposed for Warburton and looks set to help alleviate some key community concerns.
An application has been submitted to Yarra Ranges Council for a new Warburton IGA, with a bigger store, more on-site carparks and easier access for trucks.
Owner of the Warburton IGA Shane Wyles said a planning permit was previously accepted for the supermarket upsize. The new application is needed due to the proposed upgrades for parking and truck movement.
“Instead of having something in the high 30s of carparks, we’re now into the mids 60s. The size of the building hasn’t changed, but because we picked up the additional site and all the loading bays have changed, we’ve had a redesign of the whole building and are pretty happy with what we came up with,” he said.
“The supermarket will be about the same size as Mt Evelyn’s, about 1500 square metres. It will give everybody in Warburton a proper range and ability to shop in a proper supermarket without leaving the town if they don’t want to, instead of driving out of town to get certain items.”
A couple of IGA stores across the Yarra Ranges have gone through big upgrades in recent years, namely the Mt Evelyn and Cockatoo stores which have been well-received by their communities.
Mr Wyles said the proposed new Warburton IGA will help the entire town.
“People now are after a lot more niche type products and local products, which we try and source as much as we can now, but we haven’t got a sufficient size enough at the moment to carry all those things. Now we will be able to keep our food miles low as possible and our customers can reduce theirs by purchasing within the town,” he said.
“Everybody also understands the difficulty in Warburton with parking., and we currently only have street parking. Our customers park on both sides of the highway and have the danger of having to cross the highway during busy times. Now we can free up parking on the street for others and have safer pedestrian movement to the supermarket as well.”
The design for the new supermarket has parking wrapping around the back of the Warburton Pharmacy, with the new IGA building situated further back. Wurundjeri Elder Doreen Garvey Wandin was consulted on the design to incorporate some Indigenous characteristics into the building.
