Council has submitted an expression of interest (EOI) to purchase the business and freehold site of the Shell Service Station in Bright.
The EOI is conditional on a clean environmental report and appropriate due diligence.
The site, at the corner of Gavan and Anderson streets, has strategic value for the Alpine Shire community.
Council officers anticipate the key intersections of Star Road, Gavan Street and Anderson Street will become increasingly hard to navigate as traffic volumes increase into the future.
Ownership of the Shell Service Station site would allow Council to improve vehicular movements at these key intersections.
It would also provide an opportunity to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and to improve amenity at the entrance to the Bright CBD.
While we don't currently have concept designs for how changes to the area may look, we believe that we need to seriously consider this opportunity whilst the purchase of the site is an option – we cannot foresee when this opportunity may come up again.
If Council proceed with the purchase, we don't anticipate that this site will be redeveloped in the near future; this is just the first step in a longer term plan for the area. Construction is likely to sit within a five to 10 year timeframe.
Council has received in-principle support from Regional Roads Victoria for a future upgrade of the Anderson and Gavan streets intersection, along with the adjacent Gavan Street and Star Road intersection.
Council officers are currently engaging with the owners’ representative and working through a due diligence process.
The purchase remains subject to a formal decision of Council.
In late November 2023, 1-3 Anderson Street, Bright (the 'Shell Service Station') was offered for sale through an Expression of Interest process. It is understood that a fuel service station has operated from this site since 1962, and the site has been under the same ownership since 1992.
This site has previously been identified by Council officers as having potential strategic value for the community given its location. A traffic assessment carried out in 2022 determined that key road intersections in the Bright Central Business District (CDB) were operating at the time under 'excellent' conditions and the road network performing with a 'high level of service'. However, it was noted that based on high-level modelling, the capacity of Gavan Street to accommodate traffic during peak periods might be exceeded in as little as 11 years.
Emergency Services stakeholders surveyed as part of the traffic assessment were noted as consistently identifying difficulties in travelling through central Bright during peak periods due to congestion. Right turn movements in the vicinity of the Star Road/Gavan Street intersection were observed to block traffic movement and result in moderate delays.
Whilst an upgrade of the Star Road/Gavan Street/Anderson Street intersection is not considered a high priority today, given the knowledge that traffic movements within the Bright CBD may become increasingly constrained in the medium term, it is necessary for Council to evaluate the unique opportunity that the acquisition the Shell Service Station site might present.
Questions from the Community
If you have any questions you'd like answered before completing the above survey, please submit them below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
