A group of northern suburbs supermarket operators have lost their Supreme Court challenge against the redevelopment of neighbouring shopping centre.
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The owners of the Kaleen and Evatt IGA supermarkets, joined by local residents, went to court to appeal against the decision of Planning Minister Simon Corbell to “call in” the re-development of Giralang shops.
The decision by Mr Corbell in August last year allowed the centre’s owners to proceed with their deal with supermarket giant Woolworths to develop the site, after seven years of wrangling through the legal and planning systems.
The court action alleged Mr Corbell's decision was not consistent with the Territory Plan because it was too large, was not well served by public transport, would create traffic problems, and failed to take into account the economic impact on other commercially viable centres.
But in a decision published this morning, Supreme Court Justice John Burns ruled that the minister acted lawfully when he used his powers to call in the development.
The approved proposal allowed the centre's owners to develop a smaller 1500sqm supermarket, which would be complemented by four specialty shops, a cafe, a restaurant, 100 underground car-parking spaces and more than 70 surface car-parking spaces.
