A NAVAL Base deli owner says he could lose his business because work on a LandCorp site beside his shop has taken five months longer than scheduled.
Owner and operator of Car’s Corner Lunch Bar Michael Peacock said large fences and barriers around a LandCorp building site made it look like his business was closed.
“My business is going down the gurgler, from Rockingham Road it looks closed. I have regulars, but a lot of my business is passing trade, and I’ve got six foot fences around my shop. To the passing trades its like ‘forget it, it’s closed’,” he said.
Mr Peacock, who has owned the business on the corner of Rockingham Road and Hope Valley Road for nine years, said work was only supposed to take four to six weeks but had taken over six months.
“I have lost about 30 per cent of income, that’s about two or three thousand dollars a week over the last six months,” he said.
“I have had to lay off some staff and I have taken a pay cut, but I am just juggling bills each week hoping I won’t have to close,”
LandCorp Western Trade Coast business manager Bill Adlam said the sign will be a Town of Kwinana entry statement for the long awaited Latitude 32 industrial development which LandCorp had agree with the council to construct.
Mr Adlam said work was delayed because of issues with below ground services, rectified recently.
He said LandCorp had tried to minimise the visual impact of the fencing and barriers by installing smaller water-filled barriers. “We are aware of the owner’s concerns and have made contact on several occasions with the owner.
“While we regret it has taken longer than originally anticipated we are on track to complete the works by the first week in June.”
Kwinana MLA Roger Cook wrote a letter on behalf of Mr Peacock to the Rockingham Kwinana Development Office highlighting the effect the work was having on his business and said he deserved compensation.