But, the process is still only in the early stages, with the development application recently lodged with council.

Upper Hunter Shire Council received a notice of a proposed development – to demolish the existing structures at 172-182 MacQueen Street, Aberdeen – the current location of Aberdeen Valley Fair, to make way for the construction of a mixed use commercial development.

The proposed building would be comprised of a two-storey commercial building, incorporating ground floor retail shops, a supermarket and first floor commercial tenancies, a 24-hour highway service centre, quick service food outlet, bulky goods retail outlets, car parking, signage and landscaping.

At this stage, there is no allotted time frame for when the development will take place, should it be approved.

The Upper Hunter Shire notified those in the area of the application by mail, alerting them to the four-week notice period.

Anyone is eligible to make a written submission regarding the proposal to council by close of business on Thursday, September 7.

Council requests that submissions clearly demonstrate any grounds for objection, and will treat names and addresses of submission authors as public information, unless specifically requested otherwise.

Such requests should be accompanied by reasons for withholding.

For more information about the proposal, or to track the process of the development application, visit http://upperhunter.nsw.gov.au/our-services/on-your-property/building-planning/planning-tools.aspx 

The Application Tracking tool contains a system representing key milestones in the process. It does not provide a detailed history, but rather a process summary. Anyone with questions is asked to contact council’s Environmental Services Department on 6540 1136.