South Corowa petrol station approved to sell beer and wine despite council
The Federation Council approved $649,000 to rebuild a South Corowa petrol station. It will sell fuel, packaged beer and wine.
The former BP and Liberty service station at South Corowa will reopen with new underground fuel tanks, a new canopy, new signage and entry changes. A packaged liquor licence will also be granted.
Councillor David Harrison did not like selling alcohol at a fuel station. But the council approved it anyway.
Corowa IGA supermarket owner Craig Waldron objected. He said the applicant had promised fuel sales would stop.
A court said no such promise was made. The property owner is Ravi Babu Annamneni.
He first had his liquor licence turned down in 2023. He won the appeal in April 2024.
A tribunal member found the nearby golf club did not give easy access to alcohol sales.
- 649,000 dollars
- Development cost approved
- Ravi Babu Annamneni
- Property owner
- 2023
- Licence refused
- April 2024
- Licence granted
Why it mattersThe approval ends years of doubt about the site's future. The station now creates new competition for the IGA's alcohol sales.
AustraliaThe decision establishes precedent for combined petrol and liquor sales in rural NSW, potentially affecting similar applications elsewhere.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 7 d ago
