24°C | Wednesday December 4, 2024 
15 November 2024
Woolworths will continue trading at Neutral Bay’s Grosvenor Lane over the Christmas period, following a lease extension negotiated by Coles with the supermarket chain. The decision, which will allow Woolworths to remain open until February 2025, gives North Sydney Council additional time to consider plans for redeveloping the site, including a tender process aimed at realising a community plaza. The supermarket was originally scheduled to close this month.
Speaking at last Monday’s meeting, Coles, represented by Richard Hamilton, expressed its support for North Sydney Council’s decision to call for tenders to deliver a public plaza at Grosvenor Lane. The plan envisions underground parking funded by the development, which Coles regards as a key community asset. Coles indicated that the tender process would allow greater transparency, especially if council priorities and principles for the plaza are factored into the tender criteria. Hamilton noted that the tender should outline any incentives, such as height bonuses, to make the project economically viable while adhering to community benefit goals.
Coles’ original proposal, submitted in September 2023, sought to construct a mixed-use development featuring six levels of residential units above a new Coles supermarket, funded public underground parking, and a community plaza. This plan, shaped by extensive consultation, received support from local precinct committees. However, an independent planner recently opposed the six-level residential design, prompting Coles to submit a revised development application with a reduced height of three residential levels.
Hamilton explained that this reduction impacts the project’s ability to finance the plaza and underground parking fully. Coles has nonetheless expressed a willingness to proceed with the original scheme, contingent on council approval for additional height, which would ensure sufficient funding for community facilities.
The Coles proposal has been the subject of resistance by Arkadia, the property owner of retail outlets on the south side of Grosvenor Lane, who have expressed concerns about loss of vehicular access to shopfronts and a lack of contestability over plans to develop the lane’s council carpark into a plaza. Arkadia has proposed its own alternate plan.
North Sydney Council stated that the plaza objective has been embedded in Council’s Development Control Plan for over a decade. In April 2023, Council granted Coles owner’s consent to submit a development application for Grosvenor Street, featuring a supermarket, residential units, and underground public parking to support the pedestrian plaza. Council “resolved to enter into direct negotiations with Coles” on the proposal, recognising its potential for delivering the public plaza, yet significant height variation issues under the Local Environment Plan remain unresolved.
Council has also extended owner’s consent to Arkadia allowing it to submit a DA involving Council Land. However, Arkadia had not submitted a DA at the time of writing.
In May 2024, Council adopted a Probity Plan to guide interactions with Coles, aiming to ensure transparency and governance in the negotiation process. Council’s endorsement of the Neutral Bay Village Planning Study reaffirmed the plaza as a core priority, yet Council noted that discussions with Coles remain limited due to ongoing assessment challenges linked to proposed height variations in Coles’ application.