KEY POINTS:
Foodstuffs has won the battle to open a large supermarket built more than two years ago.
The company, which says it had been planning the supermarket for 17 years before building it, was first granted council resource consent in October 2004 for the Wairau Rd Pak'n Save.
Work started and the store was due to open in August 2005, creating 300 jobs in the area. However Foodstuffs competitor, Australian-owned Progressive Enterprises, with the Northcote Mainstreet Business Association, opposed the store and the High Court overturned the consent in June 2005, forcing work on the supermarket to stop.
Progressive's argument is that the supermarket is contrary to the North Shore City Council's centre-based district plan policy and that the store would cause traffic congestion and air pollution.
It has also cited that the supermarket is a threat to other stores, saying its opening would have a flow-on effect on North Shore centres.
So Foodstuffs took the unusual step of making an entirely new resource consent application for a completed building.
The North Shore and Auckland Regional Councils heard the notified resource consent application for the business in November. They released their decision yesterday.
Auckland Foodstuffs general manager of property development, Murray Jordan, said the decision reflected the "overwhelming public support" they had received for the supermarket.
The appeal period to the Environment Court expires on February 18.
