Mosman is overwhelmingly united in its opposition to a mega Woolworths’ development in the heart of the village.
And Woolworths is getting the message loud and clear:
Mosman doesn’t pick Woolworths!
Here’s a tally of the united voices of Mosman.
Mayor Carolyn Corrigan says the majority of councillors don’t support the proposed development.
“My view is that the community would need convincing that there was a sufficient benefit to outweigh the impacts that such a large scale proposal would generate,” Cr Corrigan stated.
Mosman Club has come out swinging, saying it “will not enter into any discussion with Woolworths regarding redevelopment of The Club” and the development is “dead and buried”.
“We have stopped the Woolworths development”, said Club CEO Gerard Boyle.
“Now that we have seen these concept plans for the first time, we agree there is zero appetite within the Board and management to explore a development such as this,” he said.
Mosman Club’s membership surged by 5 per cent as hundreds of residents took up Mosman Village Community’s suggestion and joined the Club to get the benefits of membership and give themselves a say in the future of the Club’s property should it ever be subject to a member vote on an offer from Woolworths.
“We thank our members who always support us, and the new ones joining to support us, and we hope that support continues,” Mr Boyle said.
Roy Bendall, a Mosman councillor and a director of the Club, has declared he “will be leading the charge against this development”.
Our Federal MP Zali Steggall says that she “doesn’t want to see Mosman lose its village feel” and the “choice of where you can do your shopping” shouldn’t be “at the expense of the local community.”
Seph Glew, whose family owns the Westpac building, has publicly declared he’s not willing to sell to Woolworths and will not be swayed by any offer. He even suggested that Woolworths “sell the properties back to us and we would restore them as retail shops.”
A recent Sydney Morning Herald vox pop revealed most people shopping on Military Road were opposed to the Woolworths’ development.
“‘It would ruin our village’, said Kerry Spence, who is nearly 80 and has lived in Mosman all her life. She worried about the competition to local businesses, the traffic hazard for nearby schools and the increase in trucks.”
Here at Mosman Village Community (MVC) we’ve had 1500 residents and households sign up to our membership list.
Local shops and businesses have provided huge support, helping with the printing of flyers, hosting MVC membership forms at their counters, and letting customers know about Woolworths’ plans and our campaign to stop them.
Hundreds of community members have left comments on this website, near unanimously opposed to the development.
Dozens of MVC volunteers circulated leaflets encouraging their neighbours to make a submission to Council on its draft Local Strategic Planning Statement.
Hundreds of residents and ratepayers responded and made submissions to Council seeking a limit on the size of future retail developments in Mosman.
On popular Facebook page Mosman Living locals are overwhelmingly expressing opposition to the Woolworths’ development, and cheering the Club’s decision to block the development.
Another popular local website Mosman Collective has added their support to the campaign.
And the majority of residents at select focus groups run by Woolworths have directly expressed their opposition to the proposed mega development.
Felicity Wilson, our state MP, remains disappointingly silent.
Woolworths gets the message, but will it sell up and move on?
Woolworths’ head of property development, Andrew Loveday, admits “there’s probably not a lot of support for this [large] kind of development at the moment” and that Woolworths will “need to take that away and consider our next steps.”
So will Woolworths listen to the community, respect its wishes, and not push for a development which Mosman doesn’t want?
Will Woolworths consider accepting Seph Glew’s offer and sell up and move on?
We can hope, but Woolworths’ track record here and elsewhere suggests it won’t give up easily and simply go away.
Woolworths was trying to keep its plans under wraps until it was further down the track, but has only come out publicly due to community pressure.
And as you’ll read below, Woolworths has two big reasons why it wants to come to Mosman.
Woolworths’ plans as they stand
Until further notice, Woolworths’ plans are to tear down and dig up as much of the block between Belmont Road and Gouldsbury Street along Military Road as it can get its hands on, and replace the existing buildings and spaces with:
- a huge underground supermarket of more than 3,000 square metres
- a multi-storey residential complex with up to 60 apartments
- a shopping mall with 10-15 retail outlets
- a multi-story underground car park
- a relocated Mosman Club
To fulfil those plans, Woolworths needs to acquire or get control of:
- Mosman Club
- the property on the corner of Gouldsbury Street including its carpark
- the Westpac building on the corner of Belmont Road and its carpark
- the rear public lane
- the rear council-owned car park.
Traffic, trucks & trolleys
Why does Woolworths want a full-size supermarket in Mosman?
Because it has to close both its Neutral Bay stores by 2024.
By then Woolworths’ lease on the Grosvenor Street store from landlord Coles will expire.
And when the Grosvenor Street store closes, Woolworths also has to close its Rangers Avenue store, due to a condition of the development consent imposed by the Land and Environment Court in 2005.
Read the Land & Environment Court 2005 judgment.
That means Woolworths needs to build a store big enough to serve its existing Neutral Bay customers.
And it’s chosen the heart of Mosman village as the location.
An informed back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests that the Neutral Bay stores generate some $120 million in sales per annum, with an average spend per customer per visit of around $86. That equates to 1.4 million visits each year, 26,500 visits each week and a staggering 3,760 visits each day. And these are only averages – peaks shopping times would generate significantly higher traffic.
According to Road & Maritime Services NSW planning guidelines a supermarket of 3,800 square metres (the size of Grosvenor Street alone) would generate close to 620 vehicle trips per hour during Saturday peak shopping times. That’s one car every 6 seconds trying to get in or out of an underground car park, or holding up traffic while accessing an on-street parking spot.
Traffic around Military Road, Belmont Road and Gouldsbury Street is already a nightmare at peak times, not only on busy weekends but during morning and afternoon peaks and school drop-off and pick-up times, and pretty much any time of day.
Whatever the exact numbers may be, there is no doubt that the huge volume of extra traffic drawn from all over the lower north shore to a full-size Woolworths’ supermarket in Mosman would cause extreme traffic congestion and hazards, not just in the immediate vicinity of the store adjacent to two large schools and a pre-school, but along all arterial roads and throughout the suburb’s residential streets.
On top of massively increased car traffic, there will be a significant number of large truck movements every day for delivery, waste-disposal and other services.
With increased traffic and trucks comes increased noise and air pollution. Nearby residents will of course suffer the most.
Woolworths has no solution
Woolworths acknowledged in its June meeting with MVC that traffic would be the single biggest issue. Woolworths said it did not have a solution.
Urgent need for Council to conduct a traffic study
We urge Mosman Council to commission a traffic study to properly inform Council, other planning authorities and the community of current traffic levels and issues, with particular focus on the impacts of any significant increase in the scale of retail development in Mosman village.
Other impacts
Apart from generating traffic chaos, Woolworths’ proposed development would also:
- forever destroy the village character of our main street
- compromise the pedestrian safety of 2,000 school students
- drive many existing local shops out of business
- reduce the variety and quality of food and goods sold locally
- impact neighbouring residents’ quality of life
- diminish the village’s architectural heritage
- threaten The Mosman Club as we know it
What you can do
While we wait to hear what Woolworths’ next moves are, there’s still plenty you can do to ensure we keep up the fight to protect the character and amenity of the village we love.
Join us
Mosman Village Community believes that the village nature of Mosman is one of the things that makes our area a great place to live.
We want to keep a mix of shops offering a range of services in a street front setting. Easy to park, quick to get what you need or to stay longer and enjoy.
If you’re not a member yet, join us now by clicking here. We’ll do our best to keep you informed and give you a voice.
Join Mosman Club
The Club’s property remains central to Woolworths’ plans. Without the Club there is no way the development proposed by Woolworths can proceed.
Even though the Club has stated it is now opposed to the present Woolworths’ development, things may change. Woolworths may amend its plans to make them more attractive to the Club. The Club’s financial position may change due to unforeseen circumstances.
Whatever happens, under the NSW Registered Clubs Act, core property of the Club cannot be sold without the approval of a majority of members.
By joining the Club you’ll not only have all the benefits of membership and be contributing to its ongoing success, but you’ll also have a say – if and when the time comes – whether core property of the Club can be sold.
Club membership is only $10 for the first year or $25 for the first 3 years.
Find out how to join the Mosman Club here.
Boycott Woolworths
Woolworths is tracking you. It knows how many Mosman residents shop online and at its nearby supermarkets, including Neutral Bay, Northbridge and Crows Nest.
Stop shopping at Woolworths to send the signal you won’t support the proposed Woolworths’ supermarket in Mosman.
Support our local shops and keep the village thriving
As Charles Purcell, local resident and Sydney Morning Herald writer recently wrote so eloquently about Mosman:
“It has a genuine village vibe. You see the same people again and again in the flower shop, the fish and chip shop, the many cafes, even the hardware store. There are few tall buildings and many places to meet and greet on both sides of Military Road. This compactness, this familiarity, gives it a sense of intimacy. Its lifestyle is the envy of other suburbs…
“Urban villages are rich in what is known as ‘third places’ – venues apart from the first places of our homes and the second places of work – where people can gather and foster a sense of community.
“For all these reasons, Mosman is indeed home to the ‘village people.”
It’s up to us – the “village people” – to keep the village vibrant and vital, supporting a variety of shops that provide us with choice and connection.
To keep the village as we like it, we need to maintain and increase our support for our local shops, cafes and businesses. If we lose them it will be hard to get them back.
So please, whenever you can, vote with your wallet and make the choice to buy local from someone you know and someone who knows you.
Speak out
Write or talk directly to your council, state and federal representatives and let them know you and thousands of other residents oppose this destructive and irreversible development.
Write to the papers and let your views be known on community forums such as Mosman Living.
Leave a comment or two or more on this website – at the bottom of any page.
We’ve all got to keep making it very clear to Woolworths, our political representatives and the planning authorities that we remain united and committed as a community to stopping a massive and inappropriate supermarket development in Mosman Village.
Share your knowledge
If you have any information or knowledge related to Woolworths’ intentions and activities in Mosman please email us. We will protect the identity of sources if requested.
Spread the word
If you have family, friends, neighbours or associates who are not aware of the community’s campaign to oppose Woolworths’ plans for Mosman, then please let them know.
Lend us a hand
Please let us know if you have knowledge, skills or experience which could help the community stop the development of a massive Woolworths’ supermarket in the heart of Mosman Village.
Chip in
Mosman Village Community has a fighting fund to cover planning and traffic research, legal advice, communication costs and other campaign expenses.
If you would like to make a donation, please click here to find out how.