While developers yesterday refused to “confirm or deny” the proposal, council has granted approval to an application for a “discount department store” in Fifteenth Street.

Big W currently operates in eight Victorian regional centres, however, the closest store to Mildura is in Renmark in the South Australian Riverland.

Mildura Rural City Council has held discussions about the establishment of a Big W store in the city since 2003 when council said it was confident strategic justification for the Big W development in Fifteenth Street would be forthcoming.

Council was then told there was little likelihood of finding a suitable site for a Big W store in the central business district, and that a new retail facility located adjacent to Centro would provide “net community benefit”.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Monday’s Sunraysia Daily 04/05/2009.