“THE STAR” Tuesday, June 27, 2017 - PAGE 9
IGA to offer reception centre
By Brad Lester
THE new $13 million supermarket proposed for Korumburra will include a reception centre catering for up to 100 people facing Commercial Street.
Expansion plans: Dr Sonya Moncrieff (left) discusses her proposal for a new medical centre in Mirboo North with South Gippsland Shire Council deputy mayor Cr Maxine Kiel.
New medical centre flagged for Mirboo North MIRBOO North could receive more health services under a proposal to build a new medical centre in the town. Dr Sonya Moncrieff is proposing to construct new premises to replace the outdated current clinic she operates from and will bring additional practitioners. “We now have two consulting rooms and we have outgrown that, and we are struggling to meet the demands of the community,” she said. Dr Moncrieff has bought a vacant block at 14 Ridgway, next to the Catholic church, and now has a planning permit application for a new premises with South Gippsland Shire Council. The new clinic will have four consulting rooms to cater for general practitioners and allied health professionals such as psychologists, podiatrists, diabetes educators and dietitians. All carparking will be onsite and a private ambulance bay will be included. “This is a 100 percent improvement on where you are working out of now,” deputy mayor Cr Maxine Kiel said. The existing premises could be up to 80 years old and are struggling to meet the demands of the community.
The proposal was listed in Michael’s IGA’s planning permit application for the new Supa IGA store submitted to South Gippsland Shire Council last Wednesday. “It’s going to be different to anything in South Gippsland,” Michael’s retail consultant Peter Jones told council last Wednesday. The new supermarket will create an extra 20 fulltime equivalent jobs and more than 100 jobs during the construction phase. The supermarket will be built on the corner of Commercial and King streets, on the existing site of Federation Art Gallery, Korumburra library, Korumburra and District Historical Society, and meeting space. These buildings are owned by council and if council decides to sell the buildings to IGA, these facilities will be relocated and the buildings demolished. Nearby houses will be removed to make way for the supermarket carpark of 130 spaces. Shade sails will be fitted in the carpark, and solar panels will be fitted to these sails and the supermarket roof. The total complex will be 3500 square metres, with 3000 square metres being the supermarket and 500 square metres being an office. IGA said at nearly double the size of the existing supermarket in Korumburra, the new development would offer the largest range of any supermarket in the region. “This is a continuing long term commitment by Michael’s Supa IGA to the Korumburra community in line with its expectations and those of the council under its strategic plan for the growth of the town and the region,” store owner Michael Lorenz said. The new store will feature a full line of grocery items plus a range of specialty departments, including an in-house bakery, meat department with ageing rooms for beef, a fresh produce de-
Exciting vision: from left, South Gippsland Shire Councillor Andrew McEwen, general manager of Michael’s IGA Len Morabito, Cr Lorraine Brunt, mayor Cr Ray Argento and Michael’s IGA fresh foods and operations manager Dominic D’Agostino celebrate the submission of a planning permit application to council for the new $13 million supermarket in Korumburra. partment, continental deli and fresh fish department, sushi bar, café area, and a complete liquor department with a range equivalent to that now offered at Michael’s highway liquor store in Leongatha. He said from a profitability perspective it was difficult to “make the financials ‘stack up’ in the immediate future’”. “However I am not all about profit. In 1995, I took a big financial gamble to purchase the Korumburra and Leongatha supermarkets and the towns got behind what we were trying to do with the resurrection of both businesses. We thank for them for their support,” Mr Lorenz said. “So I have decided to move forward with this development regardless of what the ‘numbers’ say, because it is the right thing to do for the future of the town.” The mural now on the front of the art gallery will be repeated on a metal screen on the new building. The existing coal miner statue could be
relocated onsite, at council’s expense. If council approves the supermarket, construction could start almost immediately and be completed within 12 to 15 months. Given the steep nature of the site, extensive cut and fill will be undertaken, with the fill moved to the carpark site to give a level carpark. The roofline of the supermarket will be below the street level of Commercial Street. Michaels has donated just under $1.5 million to the Leongatha and Korumburra communities through its Customer and Community rewards program. Council bought a house at 1 King Street when the property came on the market in 2015, before IGA’s development plans. “Council determines the sale price of land during consideration of the public notice process. This is normally at market valuation,” a council spokesperson said.