A regular Saturday market on the bowling greens of the old Bulli Bowling Club has been approved by the Wollongong Local Planning Panel.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A development application submitted to council in February drew 11 objections and was referred to the panel for consideration, with the decision handed down last week.
The panel acknowledged concerns by the operators of Bulli Showground over possible clashing with other markets and events, but stated the concern for competition was not valid.
Owner of the bowling club Steve Hughes said he'd been approached by a number of market operators to manage the venture, after nearly three years of advertising the space for lease.
It's hoped the 72 stall market would be running by Christmas.
"Ultimately we're local people, we want to see something do well there," Mr Hughes said. "It's certainly not going to be judged purely on ... what someone's prepared to pay," Mr Hughes said.
He said another market in the suburb would be a "positive addition" rather than over saturate the market.
"It becomes something that starts to define a place and that's the potential a market has - to offer something that adds to the local community and fabric of society," Mr Hughes said.
"If you think of somewhere like Thirroul, on the face of it there are way too my cafes, some might think. But the truth is people know they can go to Thirroul because there's a lot of good cafes."
The markets would include fresh local produce, food, local sustainable artisan and handmade products, re-purposed and recycled products.