Business
29 March, 2026
Woolworths still determined to build in Moss Vale
A Woolworths spokesperson said the company “remains committed to delivering a shopping centre for the Moss Vale community”.
Woolworths is still determined to build a new supermarket in Moss Vale.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the company “remains committed to delivering a shopping centre for the Moss Vale community”.
He said the company wouldn’t be making any further comment “due to the ongoing court process” – so it is unclear whether it will continue to pursue development on vacant land it owns behind KFC or if it will consider an alternate site.
Woolworths’ application for a new supermarket along with a BWS liquor store, retail outlets, commercial offices, outdoor carwash and 291 paid carparking spaces was refused by the NSW Department of Planning’s Southern Region Planning Panel (SRPP) in May last year.
Woolworths appealed the decision in the Land and Environment Court on July 2.
Besides building a new shopping complex, Woolworths is also planning to subdivide the site and build 30 residential villas.
Confidential conciliation talks between Woolworths and Wingecarribee Shire Council following an on-site meeting with Commissioner Peter Walsh from the Land and Environment Court were unsuccessful.
Three days have now been set aside in late May (May 20-22) for the Woolworths appeal to be heard.
The SRPP concluded that the proposed supermarket was not a natural extension of the Moss Vale town centre and its lack of integration would result in a “standalone retail destination accessible primarily by car”.
The panel also concluded that the scale of the proposed supermarket would have a negative impact on the viability and sustainability of the town centre and the resulting loss of business would also result in “the loss of a sense of place and community”.
Local residents invited to address Commissioner Walsh during his November 13 site visit told him the proposed development would split the town in two and compound existing traffic woes.
Woolworths claims it undertook extensive community consultation both prior to and during assessment of the development application.
It said it had partnered with Ethos Urban to deliver a “robust” community engagement program and had also provided the community with up-to-date information via a project website.
A spokesperson for Ethos Urban (now Colliers Urban Planning) told The Southern Wire last week that it was no longer handling community enquiries in relation to the project.
Read More: Southern Highlands, Moss Vale