{"id":933073,"date":"2026-10-18T22:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T22:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933073\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T22:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T22:50:21","slug":"geelong-council-steps-in-to-block-coles-supermarket-opening-in-point-lonsdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/933073\/","title":{"rendered":"Geelong council steps in to block Coles supermarket opening in Point Lonsdale"},"content":{"rendered":"

The red and white ‘No Coles at Swan Bay’ signs are easy to see in Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff, hanging on local fences and in windows around both towns.<\/p>\n

Late on Friday, those who put them up appeared to notch a win when the City of Greater Geelong formally asked the state government to rezone a development site for special use.<\/p>\n

If approved, the site at the entrance to town could not be used for a supermarket \u2014 only for tourism purposes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

City of Greater Geelong has applied to rezone this site at 2341-2349 Bellarine Highway, Point Lonsdale,\u00a0for tourism only. (Supplied: Trish Berry)<\/p>\n

In a statement, Coles said the project was in “a pre-application phase and no formal planning permit application\/proposal has been lodged”.<\/p>\n

But community members involved in the Stop Coles Steering Committee said the supermarket giant had been eyeing off the site since April last year.<\/p>\n

The group’s Trish Berry said community opposition to a store being built there had been strong since they “got wind” of the supermarket giant’s plans.<\/p>\n

She called the council’s planning amendment request \u2014 which still needed state government approval \u2014 a “win for everybody” against the development.<\/p>\n

“There’s been lots of texts floating around. People are very excited,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve worked together as a community since September last year, and the overwhelming community feeling is that this is not an appropriate site for a supermarket.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Signs like these are easy to spot in Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

Environmental impact front of mind<\/p>\n

Ms Berry said the group had several concerns about a supermarket being built on the lot, including its impact on nearby Ramsar-listed wetlands.<\/p>\n

“Anyone who visits the site sees just how beautiful and fragile it is,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s surrounded by wetlands. It’s home to migratory birds that fly from Siberia every year.”\"A<\/p>\n

There has been strong local opposition to Coles building a new supermarket in Point Lonsdale.\u00a0 (Supplied: Trish Berry)<\/p>\n

They were also worried about the visual impact of a Coles at the entrance to town, along with its effect on local traders.<\/p>\n

“The two main shopping strips here are kind of the fabric of the social community,” Ms Berry said.<\/p>\n

“We’re small towns. People meet, shop and have coffee in those little villages. And a big supermarket would take people away from that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Small shopping strips in Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff that would be affected if a new Coles supermarket was built.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

She said the community is already serviced by major supermarkets in nearby Ocean Grove and Drysdale, and an IGA in town.<\/p>\n

Proposal doesn’t check out: councils<\/p>\n

Although the City of Greater Geelong made the planning amendment request, it has been working together with the neighbouring Borough of Queenscliffe to oppose the development.<\/p>\n

Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj said it was a win for local community members who had been clear in calling for the site to be used for “low-scale tourism”.<\/p>\n

“Submitting the amendment to Minister [Sonya] Kilkenny is an important step to deliver on the structure plan and allow the community the chance to have their say through a formal process,” Mr Kontelj said.\"A<\/p>\n

The site in question at 2341-2349 Bellarine Highway, Point Lonsdale, is just inside the City of Greater Geelong boundary.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

Borough of Queenscliffe Mayor Donnie Grigau said not all locals opposed the new supermarket in town.<\/p>\n

“There are people who would like it. There are people who wanted it,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But ultimately, the zoning was incorrect.<\/p>\n

“I’m very much pro-business, but this one here, it was always meant to be for tourism.”<\/p>\n

He said there was a chance the Victorian government would not approve the amendment before the November state election.<\/p>\n

“If it’s carried past the state election, we just hope the next planning minister, whoever that may be, follows it through,” Mr Grigau said.<\/p>\n

\"Beachgoers<\/p>\n

The beach in Point Lonsdale is a big drawcard for tourists, particularly over warmer months.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

In response to questions about the council’s planning amendment, a state government spokesperson would not give any indication of whether it would be approved.<\/p>\n

“Any proposal will be considered on its merits,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\"Campaigner<\/p>\n

Ms Berry says the local waterways should be protected from any supermarket being built nearby.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

Ms Berry said she would like to see it approved sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

“Everyone is saying you need to really listen to this, minister, to what the community and the local government people and your own government is saying: this land needs protecting,” she said.<\/p>\n

Her group is holding a community meeting on October 22 to discuss what kind of tourist offering should be built on the site, and if an environmental education facility would be suitable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The red and white ‘No Coles at Swan Bay’ signs are easy to see in Point Lonsdale and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,104,16553,499861,26687],"class_list":["post-933073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-coles","tag-development","tag-point-lonsdale","tag-supermarkets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}