Bunbury Forum upgrade gets planning approval

Bunbury Forum is set for a facelift after a decision from the Regional Development Assessment Panel. The announcement was made Tuesday night by the City of Bunbury on social media, along with mock-up pictures of the planned developments. The proposed works will see the retail precinct’s facade, carpark and landscaping upgraded, along with shade sails installed over the existing carpark. Upgrades will also include two large-form retail tenancies at the eastern portion of the shopping centre and will result in an increase of about 1500sqm in lettable area. The redevelopment will also allow for ‘direct-to-boot’ facilities for outlets such as Woolworths and Big W. The development application was approved by the RDAP at its meeting on May 21. The post was met with a flurry of excited comments with many saying the shopping centre was due for an upgrade. The works are the first proposed for Bunbury Forum since 2018 when a $64 million revamp was discussed but eventually scrapped. It comes after spud king Tony Galati announced a Spudshed store was in the works for the centre during a question and answer video on Facebook earlier this month. “Yes the rumour is true — we are opening up one of our megastores in Bunbury Forum by the end of the year,” he told viewers. However, contacts at the Bunbury Forum remained tight-lipped on the matter.