Woolworths and a local property developer stand accused of lying to the ACT government and the Canberra community over the impact of a new supermarket in the city's north.
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The government has confirmed it is investigating the explosive allegation that a bid to build a new Woolworths supermarket at Giralang was underpinned by documents that played down the full impact of the development on the grocery business in Belconnen.
Both Woolworths and the owners of the site, Nikias Nominees, deny any misleading conduct.
The bitter dispute between Nikias and Woolworths on one side and local IGA grocery stores backed by Supabarn on the other has rumbled on for nine years while the suburb's local shops have stood derelict.
The rival operators have launched several legal actions and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is still investigating allegations that Woolworths is trying to put other northern suburbs supermarkets out of business.
Now it is alleged that one set of numbers for the shop's projected turnover and its impact on surrounding suburbs was supplied to the planning authorities, while another, radically different, set of numbers was kept secret by Woolworths.
The rival grocers want Planning Minister Simon Corbell to withdraw his consent, granted in 2011 under controversial "call-in" powers, alleging the minister was ''misled'' about the impact of the proposal.
An economic assessment impact, independently prepared by consultants Duane Location IQ, for the new shop at Giralang that was supplied to planning authority ACTPLA and the public estimates the Woolworths store would have sales of about $12.5 million in its first year, and its impact on existing retailers would be "minimal".
But in his official complaint to the minister, Kaleen IGA owner Chris Haridemos says internal Woolworths documents, obtained as part of a Supreme Court battle against the development, put the estimated first-year turnover at more than $29 million.
It is also alleged that the Woolworths documents show the group's property bosses were aware of a substantial predicted impact on business at supermarkets in Belconnen, Kippax and Charnwood. In his complaint to the minister, obtained by The Canberra Times, Mr Haridemos alleges that Woolworths and Nikias misled the government and the community to obtain permission to build the shop.
"The community has been misled, ACTPLA has been misled and you yourself Mr Corbell have been lied to," Mr Haridemos wrote.
The supermarket owner declined to comment on the case.
Nikias Nominees said the allegations had no substance and it was perfectly reasonable that Woolworths and the external consultants should have different estimates of the expected sales performance of the supermarket.
The developer's lawyer, Chris Wheeler, said Woolworths, as the prospective tenant at the site, had no role in preparing and submitting the development application.
"Woolworths did not provide its internal analysis of estimated sales figures to Nikias Nominees or its independent consultant," Mr Wheeler said.
"Woolworths did not submit any documents to the minister in support of the development application, and did not make or participate in any representation to the minister about the estimated turnover at Giralang.
"How could Woolworths mislead the minister if it did not make representations to the minister?
''Woolworths has not misled the minister.
"The minister made his decision on the material that was presented to him through the public DA assessment process and as assisted by the assessment of the Planning Authority.
"It is always possible, and most likely, that an internal document prepared by Woolworths itself for its own purposes contains a different estimate about projected sales revenue for a supermarket at Giralang than the figure estimated by the independent consultant engaged by Nikias Nominees."
A Woolworths spokeswoman said the company had no knowledge of the projected lower sales figures supplied to the government by Nikias. "Woolworths was not directly involved in the development application process," she said.
"Woolworths has an option to lease the store should it be developed. Woolworths engages honestly and transparently in all government processes and community engagement."
A spokeswoman for Mr Corbell said his department was considering the complaint from Mr Haridemos.
"The Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate is currently considering the concerns that have been raised and will provide advice to the minister in due course," the spokeswoman said.
"Until that advice has been settled, it would not be appropriate to provide any further comment."