Merriwa Service Station Rejected

TONIGHT, Council voted against the proposed development of a new service station on Bettington Street, Merriwa.

Councillor Ron Campbell said he believed all of the concerns raised about the proposal had been mitigated and he believed they needed another fuel outlet in Merriwa.

Mayor Wayne Bedggood said he did not believe it was in the right part of town and if there was to be another service station it should not be in that part of the town, which is a heritage precinct.

A new petrol station proposed in the Merriwa heritage area, was rejected by Council.

Further, Mayor Bedggood said he was tired of looking at the number of disused service stations, supported an audit of the abandoned service stations currently in the Shire and wanted Council to consider provisions in the Shire to meet the growing decline of fossil fuelled vehicles and increase in other vehicles.

Cr Sue Abbott said the location of such a large service station in a heritage precinct was not appropriate, was not in the public interest, would be a “predatory business gobbling up what Merriwa already has” and had the potential to be another stranded asset Council would need to manage.

Cr Lee Watts, said she had changed her position on the motion and no longer supported the development, agreeing that it was not the right place and that she wholeheartedly supported the heritage assessment.

Cr Campbell said he had been in Newcastle and suggested anyone who spent time in Newcastle would see that a change over to electric vehicles “I suggest it just won’t happen.”

The motion to approve the proposal was lost four to three votes: Mayor Bedggood, Cr Abbott, Cr Watts and Cr Burns voted against the proposal, while Cr Campbell, Cr Collison and Cr Driscoll voted for the proposal.

Read related story: Predatory Petrol Stations – February 12, 2020.

More news from the Council meeting tomorrow.