Kippax Fair expansion given boost as government releases recommended draft territory plan variation

There are plans to build another supermarket, a retail and dining precinct and townhouses as part of the expansion.

Some of the development would be built across part of the Holt playing fields, despite some community opposition to the loss of green space.

The territory plan variation would rezone five areas surrounding the precinct. These would include the rezoning of a community centre and the playing fields. It would generally retain the existing two storey height limit in the group centre but three and six storey height limits would allowed in selected locations.

Kippax centre services the surrounding suburbs of Higgins, Holt, Latham and Macgregor. There would also be demand for the centre from the 11,500-home Ginninderry estate, as Strathnairn has welcomed its first residents.

Plans for an upgrade have been flagged by the shopping centre's owners for more than a decade. In 2014, a retail analysis found the centre could support an additional 10,000 square metres of retail and commercial space.

A previous draft masterplan for the centre was released by the government in 2015, which suggested the centre could expand west over an existing carpark. This was rebutted by the owners who instead proposed the centre to be expanded east over the Holt playing fields.

A revised final masterplan for the precinct was approved by the ACT government last year, which heeded the advice to expand over the Holt playing fields. Consultation on a draft variation to the territory plan began shortly after.

READ MORE:

There was community push back to the plan with some residents concerned about the loss of green space. The expansion would see the loss of about 16,000 square metres of urban open space.

The consultation received 56 written submissions and 38 of those opposed the expansion of the centre into the playing fields.

"While I recognise the need for an upgraded facility at Kippax Fair, this should not involve a loss of public land. Options which protect the current green space have not been fully explored," one submission said.

Some changes were made to the draft territory plan since the consultation but an expansion onto the playing fields would still occur.

In its response, the ACT Planning Authority said part of the field would continue to provide space for sports and that three playing fields in the south-eastern corner of the Kippax centre could be reinstated.

Those playing fields are switched off from the irrigation system.

Kippax Fair centre owner Philip Christodoulou welcomed the release of the recommended draft but the centre still had to wait for a number of steps to conclude before it could lodge a development application for the site.

This included the finalisation of the recommended draft territory plan and Mr Christodoulou said the centre was waiting on information from the government about the release of territory-owned blocks adjacent to the centre.

"We will now consider the detail of the recommended territory plan variation, including the many changes since the original draft was released last year," he said.

"The community can be rest assured that we are ready to start once all the planning processes are ticked off.

"We are encouraged by the support shown for the project by the minister, government more generally and the Planning Authority.

"We look forward to its further progression as we work to resolve the outstanding issues and then move onto the preparation of a DA, which can then be shared with the community for feedback."