A disused tennis club on the Busselton foreshore will be turned into a chocolate factory by the owners of the South West town’s largest brewery.
A disused tennis club on the Busselton foreshore will be turned into a chocolate factory by the owners of the South West town’s largest brewery.
Shelter Brewery’s parent company Geographe Bay Brewing Company has lodged plans to redevelop the mothballed Marine Terrace tennis club on the Busselton foreshore into a café and chocolatier.
The factory, to be named Little Otto’s Big Choc Shop would house chocolate tastings, classes, workshops, events, and what has been described as a “gelato aquarium”.
It is situated 100 metres south-west of Shelter Brewing Company in a car park behind the Busselton Jetty.
Geographe Bay’s plans, first lodged in 2021, received unanimous backing from City of Busselton councillors on Wednesday night, who took less than one minute to wave through permission for chief executive Tony Nottle to organise a sublease for the venue.
Under terms of the deal, the City of Busselton would pay $1,000 a year in rent to the state government, which owns the land, on a 30-year lease.
The premise would then be sub-leased to Geographe Bay’s new entity, Left Coast Chocolate, for $65,000 a year for the first five years – heavily discounted until year five.
“The premises are the closest building on the Busselton Foreshore Precinct to the Cultural Precinct and occupy a prime location on the Busselton Foreshore,” City of Busselton officers said in the April agenda.
“Commercial uses, particularly ones that would provide activation and interest for this part of the Foreshore will help to better integrate the foreshore and City Centre over time.
“They are operators known to the City from their success at the Shelter Microbrewery. They have shown integrity, commitment to community and a willingness to work within the parameters of local and State government protocols.”
Busselton Tennis Club was relocated east of the jetty precinct four years ago.
The City noted essential infrastructure upgrades to accommodate the chocolate factory would cost about $128,000.
Shelter Brewing is separately rumoured to have been selected to redevelop Mandurah’s Kings Carnival into new premises.
That plan has been met with some opposition, with about 200 people taking to the streets in protest last month.
A contract for that project is due to be singed this month.
