New office space approved for Buderim

Sunshine Coast Council has approved the development of 1,434m² of office space at 8 - 10 King St in Buderim.

Division 6 Councillor Christian Dickson said the development is a positive sign of confidence in the local economy and will have many benefits for Buderim locals and surrounding local businesses in town.

“The development is on the last remaining area of vacant land along King St adjoining Buderim Village Park,” Cr Dickson said.

“The proposed building makes the best use of the scenic outlook over the park and has windows and balconies that have the added benefit of fostering casual surveillance of the park.

“The development includes a basement car park and provision for 42 car parks, six bicycle parking bays and a service vehicle parking bay.

“Council received 56 submissions about the proposed development during the public notification stage of the assessment process - the overwhelming majority of submissions (54) were in support of the development.”

Sean Evans from SP Buderim Pty Ltd said he was really pleased to hear that council has approved the development application.

“We’re ready to start construction as soon as the operational works is approved and that could be before the end of the year,” Mr Evans said.

“The entire top floor is already tenanted by an IT and printing company and we also have a strong field of interest from potential tenants for the remaining office space.

“I fully expect the building to be operational from 1 September 2014.”

Division 7 Councillor Ted Hungerford confirmed that Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR) is the road authority for King St and under prior development approvals DTMR consolidated road access along King St, taking into account the future development of the site.

“That forward planning now ensures that car movement is limited to two access points and traffic can only enter from the left and exit to the left – it’s a practical way of managing traffic flow along King St,” Cr Hungerford said.

“Department of Transport and Main Roads approved the development as the application satisfies the requirements for traffic and access.

“The applicant provided an independent traffic report from Hayes Traffic Engineering to assess the impact of the proposed development on the volume of traffic in King St. The report stated that the annual average daily traffic volumes of King St have actually declined over the past 12 years and that the development would result in less than a 5% increase in traffic volume.

“This is an exciting proposal for Buderim and the associated trunk infrastructure charge will contribute to the cost of community infrastructure such as roads, parks, water and sewer infrastructure - the benefits are likely to be long lasting, extending well beyond the boundary of the actual building site.”

The development site is located in Planning Area 6 - Buderim, within Planning Precinct 1b - Buderim Community facilities and within the Village Centre Precinct designation. Village Centre precincts generally support a range of commercial uses as preferred and acceptable uses.