Farmers Home Hotel seeks to double car park in development application with Riverina Fresh

The Farmers Home Hotel and neighbour Riverina Fresh lodged a development application with council this week as the businesses seek to subdivide the land on the corner of Hammond Avenue and Lake Albert Road.

Despite the current access to each site via both street fronts, Farmers Home Hotel has hopes of building more parking spaces, while new driveways with wider turning circles will seek to benefit both the pub and Riverina Fresh.

Farmers publican Sean O'Hara said their existing 58 parking spaces, 15 of which are temporary, presented an ongoing restriction to business.

"It's just a tough spot because the driveways are located on the busiest corner of town, so when cars drive through of a lunch or dinner time and can't see a park, they might do one more round to double check if they missed a space, but then just drive off and go somewhere else, so we lose their business," he said.

"It's not like a pub on the main street either where they can find another space along the street and walk over. We're the only venue out this way so if they can't park here, they don't really have a choice but to go somewhere else."

The land at 2-6 Hammond Avenue where the pub sits, as well as 5-7 Lake Albert Road where an old workshop site has been acting as temporary parking, is currently under the ownership of the Farmers Home Hotel.

Riverina Fresh traffic access runs through the middle of the two sites to stretch behind on 8-20 Hammond Avenue, and while their access point will still remain on Lake Albert Road, the driveway will be relocated about 40 metres south.

The proposed boundary change will re-join the Farmers' two pieces of land in order to create a single, larger space.

As a result, the development application has set out plans to bring the total parking spaces at Farmers Home Hotel to 120. In order to do so, two dwellings on the existing blocks of temporary parking will be demolished.

The boundary change will make way for one entry-only and one exit-only driveway for the pub, and a two-way driveway for Riverina Fresh.

"We're hoping to see it all approved before Christmas so we can get the ball rolling into the new year," Mr O'Hara said.

"We're really excited about this step forward and what's ahead, and definitely feel like Riverina Fresh will benefit from it too."

The development application is now on public exhibition until November 13.