Since the inception of The Meadows in West Richmond, Graham Vercoe had a vision for a community hub that included a local dairy, and now that is being realised with an On The Spot store.
The Foodstuffs’ store will join Alioke Eatery along with the Sprig and Fern in the commercial hub known as Central Park, which is all housed in a building that was designed along the lines of the milking shed that once stood on the site.
Graham is one of the four partners in Richmond West Development Company (RWDC) that has been developing The Meadows and he owns the Central Park commercial hub which also includes Wildflowers Early Learning Centre.
When RWDC purchased the land, the remnants of an old milking shed stood on the site that is now Central Park and Graham remembers cows crossing McShane Rd to be milked at the dairy.
“It had two roofs that went one way and another way and I showed it to the designer as an idea for the building and the first sketch looked exactly like I wanted.”
Graham says that right from the beginning he wanted the commercial centre to be a neighbourhood hub that included something akin to the old corner store and drew people together.
“One of the things I always thought about was a corner store where people go to get milk and bread and bits and pieces, and it was trying to recreate that corner store into the development. It also has the convenience factor for the school when it goes in.”
He says he has been working with Foodstuffs for some time to get an On The Spot store into Central Park. The Richmond West development, including Berryfields, will have about 1,300 homes when it is complete in a couple of years, and he says that convinced Foodstuffs there would be a large enough community to establish a store.
On The Spot group manager Mike Arlidge says the right operator is now being sought to take on the franchise and he is hopeful that will not take long.
Graham says the store will complete the commercial hub and give residents more opportunity to meet and be a community.
“The idea was to make sure people who lived there had somewhere to come together and socialise in the area. We agreed from the start that we wanted something that anchored the community in there.
“We have the cafe and Sprig and Fern, and the people who live there have really taken the spot to heart. They don’t have to get in their cars and go to the other side of the Richmond lights.”
