MCU14/0056 - Attachment H -Economic Needs Assessment

         16,035 vehicles on the Bruce Highway at northern Cooroy off ramp with 19.7% of
         these heavy vehicles.
Queensland Government traffic volume forecasts conducted as part of the Strategic
Planning Study for the Cooroy to Curra Corridor Report have estimated traffic on the
Bruce Highway will increase to 18,600 by 2026 near the northern Cooroy off ramp.
Future population growth within the proposed development trade area, and the increase in
traffic volumes along the Bruce Highway, will generate demand and community need for
additional service station facilities.
The proposed service station which forms part of the larger mixed use retail and tourist
accommodation development will trade longer hours than the existing two service stations
in Cooroy and will therefore provide a greater level of convenience for both local residents
and passing traffic on the Bruce Highway. As illustrated in Figure 4.1 the existing service
stations are limited to two facilities in the centre of the Cooroy Town Centre area. Passing
trade, which is likely to account for most of the fuel demand, would be better served by
facilities located in closer proximity to the Bruce Highway.
As illustrated in Figure 4.1, there is a gap in the provision of highway based service
stations between Kybong and Forest Glen. The subject site, approximately half way
between these two service stations and at the key Cooroy Southern Interchange, is a
logical site to address this gap. The driving distances of competitive centres are provided
in Table 4.1 and demonstrate that the closest competitive service station (excluding the
two service stations in the Cooroy Town Centre which do not service highway traffic) is
the Matilda at Kybong some 29 kilometres to the north and the BP at Forest Glen, some
31 kilometres to the south. Therefore there is capacity within the network, from a
distribution perspective, to accommodate a further service station at this facility to service
highway trade, as well as local residents.


4.3       Potential Impacts
Much like the fast-food retail component, the proposed service station on the subject site
will be complementary to existing facilities in that it will cater primarily to traffic on the
Bruce Highway. For this reason, it is forecast that a significant component of its fuel and
ancillary retail sales are expected to originate from outside the Cooroy area and,
consequently, it will not have a significant impact on the existing service stations on
Diamond and Elm Street in the Cooroy Town Centre area.
Given the prominent highway side location and focus of the service station, distances to
any competitive service station would mean the impacts will be widely dispersed and
direct impact on any individual station is likely to be low and not a cause for concern. The
nature of the operations of service stations, means that the turnover of the proposed
service station is forecast to be derived from a regional and widely dispersed market.
Turnover will be redirected from service stations across a broad geographic area,
including service stations throughout the Sunshine Coast and in other regional areas
along the Bruce Highway.


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Proposed Myall Street Development
12022 Rev 1
30 May 2014