Land at Woolworths Bulli site unlikely to be KFC
That patch of green grass in the Bulli Woolworths car park is up for sale – but it seems unlikely that it will become a KFC.
In late 2016, KFC lodged a development application for a 24-hour restaurant at the supermarket site.
It was a move that caused a ruckus, with people coming out strongly both for and against the proposed restaurant.
Now Woolworths has put the grass patch on the market with Sydney firm Burgess Rawson, advertising it with a zoning “allowing a wide range of retail, business, entertainment and community uses”.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said they had originally acquired the land for the expansion of the Bulli neighbourhood shopping centre car park, which has since been completed.
It has now gone on the market because the surplus land is no longer required.
However, there are doubts as to whether KFC will be interested in the site, given the way the feathers flew last time around.
Also, a Wollongong City Council spokeswoman said they had had no contact with KFC about a restaurant at that location – or anywhere else in Bulli – for the last 12 months.
That will come as bad news for members of a Bulli Facebook group, who felt the parcel of land going on the market signified that KFC would soon follow.
Some members posted suggestions of other fast food restaurants instead, like Nando’s, Oporto, Guzman y Gomez – with one wag suggesting a second McDonald’s just down the road from the one at Woonona.
Others suggested placing a cafe there in advance of the extended clearways coming for the Bulli CBD.
The original plans for a KFC were knocked back by council in 2017 because the development failed to comply with planning rules.
In July 2020 Woolworths covered the area in question with grass, sparking rumours KFC was coming – and the fast food company had spoken to council just a few months earlier.
Rumours swirled again when a digger was spotted on the site in April 2021 – but there was no truth to them.