State Approves Maleny Petrol Station

Maleny petrol station gets tick from state

Sunshine Coast Council received correspondence last week that seems to be a bad omen for those fighting against the opening of a petrol station opposite the primary school in Maleny.

The Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning told the council the development plans do not trigger any grounds to block the proposal.

In the official response, comments were made on issues relating to state interests, which revolved around transport and main roads. No mention was made regarding issues or concerns from Department of Education.

In its correspondence, the department also required council to include 11 conditions and subconditions to any development approval, although most are of an aesthetic or minor nature.

The department did, however, recommend that council’s assessment manager consider restricting the Lawyer Street access to be an exit only. This would mean cars would enter the petrol station off Cudgerie Street and exit onto Lawyer Street.

The department determined that the proposed development was not anticipated to create a safety hazard to the main road traffic or to the operation of the primary school bus set-down area and does not impact on public transport infrastructure.

“It is not anticipated that the proposed service station will generate additional vehicle movements along Bunya Street during the peak traffic periods,” the advice states.

“Outside peak traffic times, the state-controlled road and intersections operate within their desired

standards of service. The proposed service station does not result in the state-controlled road corridor or related intersections operating beyond their desired standard of service during these times.”

The planning approval process will now continue, with council having the final say.

As the development application has been classed as code assessable, council can only assess its merits against the relevant planning scheme requirements, with no requirement for public submissions.

Cr Jenny McKay said that council’s statutory decision period under the Planning Act 2016 would now commence.

“All feedback and comments made by members of the public will be taken into consideration as part of the assessment against the planning scheme,” Cr McKay said.

Under the requirements of the Act, council had until April 18 to decide if it approves or rejects the application and, as it was assessable, the applicant had the option of taking a “deemed approval” if council’s decision was not made by that date, Cr McKay said.

The group opposing the location of the petrol station ‘No Fuel Opposite Our School EVER’ has made a statement on its Facebook page.

“Beyond disappointing,” it said.

“We will continue to oppose this DA and thereby do our utmost to ensure the health and safety of Maleny State School students.”

More information can be found at https://developmenti.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au and search for ‘MCU18/0111’.