Junction Place advocate Michael Gobel questions need for gym in precinct

Michael Gobel, who was among a group of objectors that fought to have a plans for a Dan Murphy's liquor store in Junction Place scrapped in 2021, has raised concerns about a proposal to have a gym in the precinct dominated by hospitality businesses.

The gym is slated for a vacant building next to The Goods Shed.

"I'm not by any means against a gym within Junction Place, but I do question whether that's an optimal use for The Goods Shed, which is such an extraordinary building and really does set the scene for what could be quite an exciting hospitality precinct," Mr Gobel said.

"The planning team are complying with the planning scheme, and that in itself is the problem.

"There's little scope for them to act outside the planning scheme and that's why you need Junction Place to have its own special use zone, which holds true to the intention of what the whole development was about.

"To think council spent all those years brilliantly advocating for a Wodonga railway bypass project to create a city hub, for them not to have a planning scheme that supports that intent really puts the development at risk.

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"That unprecedented objection and galvanisation of the community during the Dan Murphy's debacle really does show the strength of community interest and conviction around staying true to that original vision and intent of Junction Place."

However, interest from Dan Murphy's to establish a Wodonga store hasn't waned, with the former Coles supermarket on High Street touted as a possible location.

Engage Wodonga's Bobbi McKibbin said there was room for Dan Murphy's to share the building, used as a COVID vaccination hub, with Chemist Warehouse, which opened last year.

"There's definitely parts of the community concerned about having too many liquor outlets, but there's a lot of people that want a Dan Murphy's, they just didn't want it in that space (Junction Place)," she said.

"A concern is that if we have the big players coming in that it pushes out the smaller independents, but it's a tough one."

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