A family-owned petrol business is taking a second crack at setting up in Wagga.
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Victorian-based APCO has lodged a development application with Wagga City Council to turn an empty car yard in Hammond Avenue into only its second NSW service station site.
The proposal comes with a price tag of $3.5 million.
APCO director Peter Anderson told The Daily Advertiser he had been looking for a suitable site in Wagga since 2000.
The Geelong-based company had been outbid in 2006 for the site on the corner of Hammond Avenue and Kooringal Road that was developed by United.
In January 2017, APCO lodged a development application with Wagga City Council to turn a 1.09 hectare site in Edward Street into a service station with drive-through coffee window and a cafe.
However, Mr Anderson said the development application was eventually withdrawn after APCO was unable to met requirements set by the Roads and Traffic Authority for vehicle access to the proposed business.
The site for the newest proposal is next door to the entrance of the Big 4 Caravan Park in Hammond Avenue.
Unlike the previous plan, there will be no drive-through coffee, but Mr Anderson said the development application includes a convenience store, which would operate 24 hours a day, and a cafe.
APCO was founded by Mr Anderson’s father in the 1970s.
The company has 26 locations, but only one of those – an Albury outlet – is in NSW.
Mr Anderson said the time frame for the opening of the new service station would hinge on approval of the development application, but APCO was keen to get it up and running as quickly as possible.
When he spoke to The Daily Advertiser in 2017, Mr Anderson promised to bring “real competition” to Wagga’s petrol prices.
This week, he said Wagga’s prices seemed more reasonable, but still said APCO would provide additional competition.
Wagga City Councillor Kerry Pascoe said petrol prices did not seem to be as big an issue in the city in recent times as they once had been.
However, he said more business and competition was welcome and said if APCO could find the right site for an outlet, they would be a “small player, but a good player”.
