Retail lift for Epping centre

Epping House N Home, a bulky goods centre with a difference will be a feature of Northpoint Enterprise Park.

Legislative changes are helping bulky goods outlets, writes Philip Hopkins.

A BULKY goods centre to be built at Epping in Melbourne's north has been given a fillip by recent Baillieu government planning changes.

Private developer, the McMullin Group, will build the centre, dubbed Epping House N Home, in the Northpoint Enterprise Park, a 120-hectare estate in the commercial and industrial heart of the City of Whittlesea.

McMullin's development director John Purdey said the centre would tap into Whittlesea's forecast population growth of 10,000 new residents per year for the next six years. Epping's catchment is now estimated at 209,000.

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The centre will be located on the corner of Edgars Road and Cooper Street, about 1.5 kilometres from High Street and Epping Plaza.

The establishment of the bulky goods centre was given a shot in the arm by amendments to retailing legislation by Minister for Planning Matthew Guy.

The policy changes revised the bulky goods definition, broadening the scope of retail activities that could be included in such centres. Further, the previously restrictive minimum floor space requirement of 1000 square metres was dissolved.

Jones Lang LaSalle's director of retail leasing Jaycen Willox said the move brought flexibility and clarity to both current and prospective tenants. ''Restrictive minimum floor space requirements under the previous scheme were thwarting the capacity of growth within the bulky goods sector,'' he said.

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Retail lift for Epping centre