Sutherland Shire Council will decide next month whether to exhibit for public comment a proposed development deal with supermarket giant Aldi at Caringbah.
Aldi bought the dilapidated Caringbah Marketplace site last year and plans to build an eight storey block, consisting of a new store at ground level and 58 apartments above.
Under the proposal, a four level, above ground, car park would be built at the rear of the property, on the existing public car park, connected by an air bridge to the Aldi store.
One level of the car park would be for Aldi customers and the remainder for normal public parking.
However, the council and Aldi can’t agree on the financial arrangements.
The council owns only the middle section of the existing public car park, plus a right of way from Banksia Avenue.
The front portion of the car park land is privately owned, and leased by the council.
The owner of that property has lodged a stand-alone development application for a nine storey apartment block.
Mayor Carmelo Pesce said the council would consider at its July 18 meeting whether to proceed with the public exhibition of the voluntary planning agreement with Aldi.
“At this stage, council and the adjoining property owners have not reached an agreement,” he said.
”The council has been working hard to get an outcome that is best for the community, and unless we can do that, we will not proceed.”
Cr Pesce said the council’s aim was to provide more car parking in Caringbah Town Centre.
“If this proposal doesn’t go ahead, it doesn’t mean a new car park is a dead duck – the council can always look at building its own,” he said.
In a separate development proposal, Aldi has applied to build a five storey apartment block above its supermarket in Wandella Road, Miranda.
The development application includes alterations and additions to the existing store and 54 apartments to be built above the existing car park.
An additional two levels of car parking above the western side of the existing car park would be built.
The council expressed a range of concerns at a pre-DA meeting, including that siting the building on the roof of the existing car park was “somewhat anomalous from an urban design point of view”.
Any DA should be accompanied by a thorough urban design analysis of the site, and no breach of the 25 metre height limit should be considered, the council said.
