Town benefits

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Glen’s new supermarket will be a Ritchies Super IGA.
Developer Chris O’Connor of Economic Development Group (formerly Yarra Valley Land Development) announced on Friday that a deal had been struck with the Australian-owned private supermarket chain.
The announcement is expected to allay some of the fears which saw the controversial development go to an independent panel hearing earlier this year.
Reservations about the impact a multi-national supermarket chain would have on the character of the town featured prominently in objections to the development.
Mr O’Connor said it had been an easy decision to go with Ritchies.
“We looked at the fact that they customise their stores and that this store will have a Yarra Valley flavour to it, the community benefits program and their price competitiveness and it was a pretty easy decision,” Mr O’Connor said.
He said the other exciting component of the deal was the development of the parklands.
The transformation open space between the shopping centre site and the racecourse are included in the development plans and form part of the planning permit.
Mr O’Connor said the plans put forward by local environmental landscape consultants Bill Molyneaux and Sue Forrest exceeded his expectations.
Introducing himself to the gathering of local business people and residents Ritchies CEO Fred Harrison said the company was delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in a town which had show such passion and spirit.
He said he believed the community would see Ritchies as a good fit with the community focus of the town.
“We’re a privately owned and operated business with 150 shareholders, most of whom are staff; some are customers, some employees,” he said.
“It’s not just about bricks and mortar for us. It’s very much about the parkland and the opportunity to be part of a built development which is unique.
“We’re delighted to be given this opportunity,” he said.
Mr Harrison said he believed the Community Benefit Card, which is a hallmark of Ritchie’s community involvement, would also strike a chord with the community.
Each store donates one per cent of the money spent and registered on the benefit card back to customer-nominated groups in the community.
“When we bring the card to community-orientated towns like Yarra Glen we would expect the usage to be about 75 per cent (of customers).
“We would expect in excess of $100,000 to be donated back into the community each year,” he said.
Plans for the parkland development were also revealed to the public.
Mr Molyneaux detailed three lakes and an extensive wetland area with a range of passive and active areas as part of an overall transformation of the site.
The parklands will join outlying attractions such as the racecourse and the recreation reserve to the main township through a network of pathways.
Retiring Chamber of Commerce president Marjorie Woollands said having a community-orientated organisation like Ritchies, coupled with the parklands project, was the best solution the town could have hoped for.
“When people know the details of just what Ritchies’ involvement, with their program to give back to the community, their commitment to using local produce and employing local people, and the fact that we have now seen more details of what the wetlands will look like, I think they will be very happy about the decisions that have been made,” she said.
“When ever we approached the shire about trying to do something with the swamp area in the middle of the town we were told we needed to find a sympathetic developer. I think that’s what we have found here.”