By MICHELLE SLATER
Latrobe City Council has given the nod for a large scale petrol station to be built on the Princes Highway between Morwell and Traralgon.
The planning application includes a servo with a convenience shop, car wash and vacuuming facilities, and includes landscaping, 20 car parks and two truck parking bays.
The proposed development on the corner of Bradford Drive to the north of the highway will operate 24 hours, seven days a week, with two staff members’ onsite at one time.
Latrobe City councillors approved the application which comes with 50 conditions relating to amenity, landscaping, stormwater, noise as well as VicRoads entry and access requirements.
Cr Dan Clancey spoke in favour for the development, but had called it in to “give it some public eyes” at Latrobe City’s June meeting due to the large scale nature of the project.
“This is a large development. I have no problems with it going ahead with council officers’ recommendations. It’s a good development,” Cr Clancey said.
“It connects the Traralgon, Morwell growth corridor.”
The application received two objections raising concerns over the historic status of the Bradford Drive and Princes Highway intersection, site access, traffic and future land use.
The allotment sits adjacent to Princes Highway car dealerships and forms part of the Morwell Traralgon Employment Corridor.
Planning documents state that the design is “typical of a service station” and is “ideally located for this style of development” sited to minimise impacts on surrounding agriculture.
It also stated that a new service station would “increase economic diversity and resilience” to the region by “introducing a new business onto land identified for a future planned activity centre”.
