By Callum Ludwig
The next steps towards the newly upgraded Warburton IGA are set to get underway.
Yarra Ranges Council endorsed the Construction Management Plan for the upgrade on 8 November 2024 and it is now publicly available and details how the works will be undertaken.
Fisher Developments and its Managing Director Alan Fisher have taken on the project, with previous owner Shane Wyles having sold the business with a leaseback from Fisher Developments to continue operating the business after the upgrade is complete.
Mr Wyles said the developer is one he knows personally and is well-experienced with a number of other supermarkets.
“He’s really keen on using a lot of local people, I was involved ONECORE Contracting which is a local business that has been involved in shoring up the old Sanitarium factory and that sort of thing, they’re excavators and in civil engineering, and I was in the meeting that introduced them to the developer Alan,” he said.
“They’re in the process of getting the permits to knock down the other two derelict buildings that are on the site, what used to be CJ’s Pizza Shop and an old house there,”
“I’m confident it will start hopefully, early in the new year.”
The project is estimated to cost around $7 million and will upgrade the store to a size of about 1500 square metres, of which 1250 square metres will be dedicated to making up the store floor and will also include 60 additional on-site parking spaces, which could help alleviate ongoing parking concerns in the township and make truck access and movement easier.
Mr Wyles said he believes it will be about a 12-month build.
“All things being equal, if they don’t hit anything that halts progress and there’s nothing wrong, it should be roughly a 12-month build, that’s generally how long a supermarket of this size takes and there’s significant excavation that has to be done at the site,” he said.
“It will be absolutely fantastic, we currently have no car parking for our existing little store on site so we go to, I think it’s 62 or 64 car parks and that it itself gives fantastic access,”
“It will be wide aisles and it’ll be roughly the same size as the Mount Evelyn supermarket, it’s something that we’re extremely excited about and that the community deserves.”
Fisher Developments has already delivered a complete redesign of a shopping precinct including an IGA in the town of Irymple, near Mildura as well as having taken on another IGA renovation in Tatura.
Mr Wyles said he expects the project will have a great positive impact on the Warburton community.
“We’ll almost treble in size, whereas even Tony at Mount Evelyn, they just did a whole refurbishment, which was fantastic, I was there at the opening and it’s a fantastic store and now we expect ours to be in a similar vein to that,” he said.
“We’ll at least double our number of employees and it could possibly be more than twice as many, we currently have 26 team members so we will go at least to 52 and it may even be more than that.”
The general working hours during the construction period will be between 7am and 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, with no work to be done on Sundays or Public Holidays other than with written approval. Nearby residents and businesses would be advised of any additional or altered working hours.
Mr Wyles said the works will aim to minimise the impact on the community during construction.
“Obviously there will be a little bit of truck movement in and out, however, they will have to have street cleaners to ensure there’s no mud on the roads and I know all of the trades are required to park on-site,” he said.
“It’ll be fully-fenced and the pharmacy, which isn’t owned by the developer is completely on board and has a quarantine area which will be integrated during the construction phase.”
During construction, the site will be signed for contact details for the general public to contact with any complaints they may have. Complainants can speak to foreman Corey Meka on-site during works, or contact the Fisher Developments head office (03 5021 0122) with all complaints to be handled by the project manager Shaun Landells.
