Millicent could again have six service stations for the first time since the 1980s following two recent real estate moves and two development applications.
At present, Millicent has only two “servos” but up to four others are in the offing.
The one-time Turners Roadhouse and upgraded adjacent residence returned to the open market last week.
The Mount Gambier Road premises has not traded since 2011 following the death of second-generation proprietor Brad Turner.
The petrol pumps and signage have been removed but the garage and underground tanks remain intact.
Another closed service station is on Adelaide Road and the Wattle Range Council special meeting last week heard that its sale by council had been completed.
Council staff anticipate a service station will again operate on this site early in 2022.
Last month, Perrys lodged a development application for a service station on a greenfield site near the Millicent roundabout.
The one-time railway land in two parcels houses a portion of track and attractive parklands.
It was put on the market by the State Government three years ago.
Perrys already operate service stations elsewhere in the region.
A further service station application for Billygoat Corner in Millicent was lodged last month by an Adelaide firm associated with On The Run/Peregrine Corporation.
An automated BP service station on the corner of Wyrie Road and Mount Gambier Road had been operated by Matthews Petroleum until early in 2016.
A ‘servo’ and associated businesses had traded on this site since the 1950s.
The Adelaide-based Peregrine Corporation had purchased the prominent commercial site at Billygoat Corner in 2015 from members of the local Croser family.
The Peregrine Corporation already has over 100 On The Run ‘servos’ in Adelaide and regional areas including Kingston, Bordertown, Naracoorte and Mount Gambier.
At the time of the sale, family spokesman Darryl Croser said he anticipated the existing post-war structures including the unmanned service station and the shopping strip of five shops would be demolished and replaced with a major retail complex including fuel and a fast-food outlet.
The land area comprised about an acre in and takes in the structures, car parking and horse paddock.
After the sale took effect in 2015, the Croser family closed its laundromat and Junction Deli proprietor Nicole Lobby-McRostie moved her business to George Street.
The one-time service station and shops have remained unoccupied for around six years and their derelict condition has attracted the attention of Wattle Range Council.
The Peregrine Corporation already has a presence in Millicent as it operates the Subway franchise in the IGA supermarket complex.
Millicent’s two existing “servos” are the unstaffed Pines Service Station on Mount Gambier Road and the staffed K&S outlet on Billygoat Corner.
