What is The Pottery?
One significant change in Kingsgrove in the last 10 years is the development of “The Pottery”. The Pottery is a new centre in Kingsgrove that has added new shops, salons and restaurants. It also has new apartments that are directly next to the train line and the M5 East Motorway. The Pottery got it’s name from the old pottery factory that was located there before the complex was built.
Why was is built?
The reason the new complex was built was to develop the suburb and create new residential apartments in close proximity to Kingsgrove Station. Another reason was to develop the suburbs business and shopping district because the residents of Kingsgrove, who need groceries, would need to travel all the way to Westfields in Hurstville or Roselands to get to the closest supermarket. Lastly, the building of The Pottery would have created more jobs for the suburb. The unemployment rate in Kingsgrove is 6.7%, this is 1.2% higher than the national average. It attracted more jobs in construction and development. It was also built undergound so it is wasting no space around Kingsgrove that leaves no problems for home owners.
What was the impact?
The Pottery at Kingsgrove has added to the suburbs business district with the site featuring a Woolworths supermarket, hairdresser, optometrist, cafes, and other everyday establishments. A positive impact on the community is that is has attracted a lot more people to the suburb who are shopping there. Some local small businesses have suffered as they cannot compete with the competitive prices of the larger shops such as Woolworths. Other businesses such as cafes and restaurants have benefitted from this new complex as it brings more people to their establishments. The Pottery site comprises approximately 15,000 square metres of floor area, including 96 residential apartments and car parking. The new residential apartments have increased the population of Kingsgrove. This has impacted on the growth in real estate prices around the area. With the real estate prices increasing in value by $100,000 from 2012 - 2014 according to Raine and Horne’s suburb profile of Kingsgrove. Which is great for sellers. Lastly, the traffic flow has been affected. The development of the new site saw the inclusion of new traffic such as “one way” and “no parking” to Kingsgrove road and surrounding streets. It has affected parking space available in surrounding streets, making the small streets feel even smaller. Especially during peak times during the week. |
Some local perspectives:
Many residents have welcomed The Pottery development at Kingsgrove, they love the convenience of Woolworths, the other shops and the ample parking.
Before the construction of The Pottery, shoppers in Kingsgrove would have to go as far as Westfields in Hurstville, Roselands Shopping Plaza or to the Rockdale Plaza. Just to go to the nearest supermarket. Each destination is at least a 10 minutes drive if not longer. So having a new Woolworths open up which for half the suburb, is walking distance from home, perfect for the community
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Another perspective is that of the local small businesses who have voiced concern. Their issue is with regards to supermarket giants such as Woolworths who will take over and monopolise. For example, Joe is the owner of “Joe’s Quality Fruit and Veges” shop. He has voiced his concern by saying “Woolworths is bigger. Everything is going to be cheaper and I’m not going to be able to compete with that.” Which is true, these small businesses could lose customers as they cannot compete with prices. They also cannot offer their workers the same wage per hour as Woolworths could, having to cut down on employees. They also need to lower the prices of their stock to try and stay competitive in the market.