Woolworths - 495-507 Barkly Street, Footscray

Woolworths is developing a new supermarket at 495-507 Barkly Street, Footscray.

The site, formerly occupied by the 501 Receptions building, is a large lot of approximately 6,290.33 square meters. It is situated in between the IGA (formerly ‘Sims’) Supermarket, the intersection with Summerhill Road and residential developments.

The site's redevelopment represents a major transformation of the West Footscray Neighbourhood Activity Centre.

VCAT Hearing

Following Council's decision to Refuse a Planning Permit, Woolworths referred the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

The matter was heard before two Members of VCAT across 16 days in November 2023, March 2024 and May 2024.

On 6 May 2025, VCAT overturned Council’s decision and directed Council to issue a Planning Permit. The full decision is available on VCAT's website.

The proposal

The Woolworths proposal is as follows:

Removal of all buildings and vegetation.
A two-storey building containing two levels of basement parking, totalling 7063.5 square meters of new floor space.
A mixed-use development, containing a Woolworths supermarket, Bottle shop, Childcare Facility, Medical Centre, Gym, Office space, and 8 Retail Tenancies.
Provision of 278 car spaces, 10 Motorcycle and 23 Bicycle spaces.
Modifications to the intersection of Barkly Street and Summerhill Road to allow for vehicle access to basement and loading bay.
Associated landscaping and public realm modifications.

The application was advertised during April/May 2023 with objections against and submissions in support of the proposal received.

Council’s Delegate resolved in mid-2023 not to support the proposal based on the following grounds:

It is not strategically justified.
It is an underdevelopment of the site.
The proposed traffic, access and loading arrangements are unsafe, below standard and would lead to unreasonable impacts on the local traffic network.
A second full-line supermarket in the local area is not needed.
It will not produce a net community benefit.