$77m Eaton Fair expansion submitted to JDAP after six year wait

Eaton Fair Shopping Centre could soon get a $77 million dollar face-lift, including a cinema and entertainment precinct, after clearing a major planning milestone. Dardanup Shire Council has approved expansion designs for the Shopping Centre, making way for the plans to head to the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel for the final approvals process. If approved, the multi-million-dollar expansion will feature a three-storey commercial shopping area, cinema, gym, entertainment and leisure precinct and residential apartments. Already the South West’s biggest retail outlet, the expansion would add 8441 square metres to the north-east of the existing shopping centre on Council Drive. It comes six years after the Eaton Activity Centre Plan was originally endorsed by the WA Planning Commission, with a modified version later endorsed in 2020. Shire president Mick Bennett said he was looking forward to the highly anticipated works and was “disappointed” he would be stepping down from the council before the long-awaited plans came to fruition. “I have got to say that it’s disappointing I’m leaving, because it is going to be magnificent for our community. It’ll be better than anything anybody’s seen locally,” he said. “I’ll still be here, in the area of course, but to keep an eye on it as council while it’s being built would also be enjoyable. “The cinemas, upstairs shopping areas ... it’ll be a very upmarket addition to the shopping centre, which will be fantastic.” The submission is now ready to go to JDAP, after being briefly delayed earlier this year due to developments on Council Drive, and then needing further reviews by the Shire’s chief executive officer. Despite these broader plans being in place since 2017, only a small portion of work has been done towards the Activity Centre Plan, including the construction on Council Drive, the development of KFC and a car wash to the south-east of the centre. However, construction is under way for the shire’s new administrative offices and civic centre, set to be completed in early 2024. Cr Bennett said the only problem delaying the project for so many years was red tape. “It’s been a long process to get that subdivision and amalgamation of lots and all of that through the system,” he said.