News
3 November, 2025
WOOLIES MOSS VALE: Original objectors must register TODAY for onsite appeal hearing.
A new supermarket, liquor and retail shops, commercial offices (second floor), car wash and 291 paid parking bays and an undisclosed 30 residential apartment villas are on the cards for Moss Vale.
A new Woolworths supermarket, BWS liquor store, retail shops, commercial offices (on a second floor), an outdoor car wash and 291 onsite paid car parking bays and undisclosed by Woolworths, 30 residential apartment villas are on the cards for Moss Vale.
An onsite conciliation hearing of the NSW Land and Environment Court is set to occur this month following Woolworths appealing their DA refusal for paid-parking, a retail complex and apartments in Moss Vale, however, ONLY original objectors can register to have their voice heard before the Court’s Commissioner.
Over two years ago, on 19 September 2023, a property development subsidiary company of Woolworths lodged a $32.8 million DA with Wingecarribee Shire Council (WSC) for a new retail precinct in the heart of Moss Vale. The DA included rolling out the first paid-parking car park in the Highlands and new traffic lights onto an already congested Argyle Street.
Located at 233 Argyle Street, the site is a large vacant block of land, spanning over 34,000 square metres (approximately 8.5 acres) behind the existing Mobil petrol station and KFC.
The DA plans to subdivide the land into two blocks, then build on one of the blocks a new Woolworths supermarket, BWS liquor store, retail shops, commercial offices (on a second floor), an outdoor car wash and 291 onsite paid car parking bays.
The second block proposed (if the subdivision is approved) has only been referred to as a “future development site”, according to notification plans sent to neighbouring properties by WSC.
The statement of environmental effects, being the primary report submitted by Woolworths for the assessment of the DA, states that the use of the second block of land is unknown, “At this stage, the future use of the residual lot is not known. The future development of proposed Lot 2 will be subject to a separate DA to Council.”
Despite not publicly revealing what the plans will be for the second block of land, the Southern Wire can reveal that at a future date, Woolworths currently plans to construct 30 residential apartment villas, located directly behind the new Woolworths supermarket.
A variety of reports were submitted with the DA, including a traffic report prepared by a Sydney-based transport and traffic planning consultancy, Colston Budd Rogers & Kafes. In the report, the firm reveals Woolworths future plans for the second block.
“Woolworths has advised that the most likely future development would be medium density residential (some 30 villas) with access via internal road.” The traffic report stated.
Given the size and scope of the DA, it was deemed to be regionally significant development and was determined by the NSW Department of Planning’s Southern Region Planning Panel (SRPP), as opposed to WSC’s local planning panel.
On 29 May this year, the SRPP refused the Woolworths DA, citing numerous reasons as to why it was not appropriate for the locality.
Prior to the SRPP determination, WSC undertook the assessment of the DA and mailed-out a neighbourhood notification to nearby residents, allowing them to make submissions for or against the new retail precinct between 19 September and 25 October 2023, and again when it needed to be re-notified between 25 October and 25 November 2023.
On 2 July this year, Woolworths appealed the SRPP’s decision to the NSW Land and Environment Court. Woolworths have appealed in class 1 proceedings, also known as a ‘merits review’, meaning a Commissioner of the Court will review the merits of the DA and be the decision-maker. By law, WSC is the defendant in this appeal.
Despite the DA’s appeal gaining attention throughout the community, especially in online community groups, only those who originally made objections in late 2023 are permitted to register to attend and tell the Commissioner their concerns at the upcoming onsite conciliation hearing.
The deadline to register to speak at the onsite conciliation is today, 3 November.
As the appeal continues without settlement, an onsite conciliation hearing allows the parties and the Commissioner to see and hear what the issues are firsthand. Following the submissions by objectors and Woolworths’ planning team, the parties then go onto a confidential conciliation conference.
The onsite conciliation will be held at 10:15am on 13 November.
The Southern Wire will keep readers informed.
Read More: Southern Highlands, Moss Vale