Member for Ku-ring-gai Alister Henskens SC MP has welcomed the decision of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to reject a proposed ALDI supermarket development in Turramurra.

“This common sense decision is a big win for the Turramurra community,” said Mr Henskens.

“As soon as I heard about this proposal I came out publically to oppose it because it was in the wrong location.

ALDI submitted an application to the Department of Planning and Environment for a rezoning proposal for a supermarket at Tennyson Avenue, Turramurra to go through the Pre-Gateway process.

The Department has assessed the proposal and found it to not have strategic merit as it is inconsistent with State and local planning objectives, including ‘A Plan for Growing Sydney’, which is the blueprint for Sydney’s planning future.

It was also found to be inconsistent with other plans and studies such as Ku-ring-gai Council’s Community Strategic Plan 2030.

“While I welcome an ALDI presence on the North Shore, the site proposed was simply not suitable,” Mr Henskens said.

“The site is in a tightly held residential area and the local roads are simply not built to receive the volume of shopping and truck traffic that would accompany a supermarket of this size,” he said.

“I have argued that large businesses the size of which ALDI is proposing should be located away from the residential zones and in the current retail areas near railway stations,” Mr Henskens said.

The Department has determined that the proposal does not have strategic merit to proceed to the Sydney West Joint Regional Panel for review.