MCU14/0056 Economic impact report Att B - Information response

2.1.1        Service Station Need and Demand
The average annual sales per retail fuel outlet in Australia is estimated at about $6.7m in
2013-14, of which 77% ($5.2m) is generated by the sale of petrol and diesel fuel, with the
remainder generated by non-fuel products and services such as convenience retail goods
(about 18%) and auto related goods (oils, lubricants, batteries) 1. However, sales can
vary considerably depending upon the facility, its location and services offered, and
service stations operate profitably at well below the IBISWorld national average. The
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Small Business Benchmarks for Fuel Retailing (2014),
for example, provides performance benchmarks by three annual turnover ranges of less
than $500,000, $500,000 to $2 million, and more than $2 million. These benchmarks are
published as ranges representing small businesses grouped either side of the industry
average.
The ATO benchmarks are also comparable to other industry performance sources, such
as FMRC Benchmarking Small Business Profile data (e.g. average $2.5 million in turnover
for service stations overall, $2.0 million for stations in smaller non-metropolitan centres).
Additional information on average fuel and retail spend per vehicle is sourced from
IBISWorld and the Australian Retailers Association’s State of the Independent Retail
Sector reports (published 2010-2013).
The proposed development is expected to draw the majority of its trade from Bruce
Highway traffic by virtue of the service station’s location at the Myall Street interchange.
Traffic Census data available from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR)
for this section of the Bruce Highway enables an approach which uses average annual
daily traffic counts (AADT) as the source of custom and applies a penetration rate or
market share to the traffic volume. That result is then multiplied by average fuel and retail
spend per vehicle.
DTMR traffic census AADT data at 2012 indicate that:
      •    the Bruce Highway, measured at a point about two kilometres south of the Myall
           Street exit, carries an average of 20,408 vehicles per day, of which about 15.7% or
           3,200, are heavy vehicles;
      •    just to the north of the Myall Street exit, the Bruce Highway carries 16,035 vehicles
           per day, of which 19.7% or 3,160, are heavy vehicles; and
      •    Myall Street, as measured just to the north of the subject site, carries 8,034
           vehicles per day, of which 9.2% or 740 are heavy vehicles.
DTMR’s forecasts conducted as part of its Strategic Planning Study for the Cooroy to
Curra Corridor indicate traffic on the Bruce Highway, north of the new Cooroy interchange,
should reach an AADT of about 18,600 by 2026. This represents an average growth in
traffic volume of about 1.1% per annum. We have applied this growth rate to the AADT



1
    IBISWorld Industry Report, September 2014, Fuel Retailing in Australia.


                                                        8
Myall Street – Information Request Response
12022-1 Rev 0
22 December 2014