Start imminent for second Winch servo

WINCHELSEA’S long-awaited BP service station is set to shortly open after several years as a one-stop town.

Planners have applied to the Surf Coast Shire for a permit amendment to allow it to start its business early, while it has begun advertising job vacancies for its imminent start date.

But there is no timeline yet for the opening of a motel intended for the same site as developers struggle to attract interest from a business that would become a tenant.

The current planning application asks for permission to stage the main street development so the new service station can open before the motel behind it is constructed. A existing permit requires the two businesses to be developed simultaneously.

“The proposed amendments to the endorsed site plan and permit conditions seek to provide flexibility for the staging of occupation of the service station and motel components,” a planning report stated.

“This will enable the service station, which is already under construction, to be completed and occupied prior to the construction and occupation of the motel use.

“[This] will enable the service station to be occupied as soon as it is completed. This is particular the case given that there is no designated tenant that has been found for the motel.”

The planning report also points to the need for a second petrol fill-up station at Winchelsea, which now only has one at its western entrance.

Locals have previously lamented lack of price competitiveness, as well as lost employment opportunities and visual amenity impacts at its eastern gateway since the BP site has been empty.

The petrol company closed the Winchelsea station in 2019 for the redevelopment.