Cheers to another bottle-o: Plans for new Dan Murphy’s in Wangaratta released

Dan Murphy’s will move into a section of land previously occupied by the former Wangaratta Plaza, in the same location as the now-closed IGA supermarket, as part of a project valued at $2.5 million.

Plans were released this week by Wangaratta Council.

The retail floor space is proposed to be 1354 square metres in size, and the site will include 62 car parking spaces and six spots for bicycles.

Entry and exit will be onto Baker Street.

The old barn-style structure of the Wangaratta Plaza will be demolished.

The Dan Murphy’s bottle shop will be built alongside a 72-room Quest apartment building, occupying another part of the block of land.

“The proposal will result in a well-designed commercial building, which will replace the outdated commercial building on the site,” the application stated.

“The proposal, when completed, will make a positive contribution to the character of the central business area.”

Alcohol sales formed a small part of the former IGA, but this bottle shop is likely to be the biggest in size in Wangaratta.

Dan Murphy’s is a member of the Woolworths group, which also owns the Woolworths supermarket and attached BWS bottle shop across the other side of Baker Street.

“It is expected that some customers will combine their trips to Dan Murphy’s with shopping at Woolworths and leave their cars in the Woolworths car park across the road, thereby not occupying any parking space at Dan Murphy,” the application stated.

A traffic impact assessment cleared the Dan Murphy’s proposal of any problems involving customer vehicles or truck access to and from the site.

The project was welcomed by Wangaratta mayor Ken Clarke back in June, as part of an upgrade to improve the streetscape between the city’s rail station and central business district.