A booming corner of Lake Macquarie is set for a new shopping centre to feed its future population growth.
Wyee Market Place Holdings has lodged a development application (DA) with Lake Macquarie City Council to build a commercial precinct on former farmland at the corner of Hue Hue and Wyee roads, Wyee.
The $51 million development includes a full-line supermarket, about 12 retail outlets, and a 256-vehicle car park.
The shopping centre proposes to operate seven days a week from 7am to 10pm.
Lake Macquarie councillors voted to rezone the 1.4-hectare parcel of land in February last year from rural to small-scale commercial.
The proponent and council have previously estimated that the development could support 195 to 285 continuing jobs.
The site is 300 metres west of the main shopping precinct in Wyee, one kilometre from the train station and a short distance from several housing estates or proposed residential subdivisions.
These include the Radcliffe Estate, which will provide 850 dwellings in Wyee, and the 70-lot Colleen Lane estate, which was approved in the Land and Environment Court of NSW last year.
The only grocery store in the suburb is the Vicsfresh IGA, 350 metres to the east of the proposed Wyee Market shopping centre.
The closest Coles supermarkets are in San Remo (eight kilometres) and Morisset (8.7 km).
Morisset also has a Woolworths. The closest ALDI supermarket is 8.5km away in Blue Haven.
"The Market Assessment and Economic Impact Assessment identifies a current shortfall in supermarket floorspace within the Wyee catchment and concludes that the proposal will address an identified need for additional retail services to support the growing local population," Wyee Market Place Holdings said in the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE).
"The development will improve access to everyday goods and services, increase consumer choice and convenience, and reduce the need for residents to travel to surrounding centres to meet their day-to-day shopping needs.
"These benefits are particularly important in the context of Wyee's significant residential growth, where the proposal will provide essential supporting infrastructure and amenities for existing and future residents.
"In addition to improving access to retail and commercial services, the proposal will create employment opportunities during both the construction and operational phases."
In the SEE it is proposed that the intersection of Hue Hue and Wyee roads, which has not signals, would need an upgrade by 2039.
Part of the proposed development also exceeds the maximum height restriction of 15 metres by 0.64m.
