Plan to convert iconic 1968 Buttercup Bakery into hardware store released

The manufacturing side of the iconic Taminda bakery, which was built in 1968, closed in 2016. The site is still used for distribution of bread, with one section vacant.

Plans by applicant Armidale New England Building Design for a major refurbishment and refit for the building were made public this week.

If approved by Tamworth Regional Council the plan would convert part of the building into a "hardware and building supplies warehouse and retail sales facility".

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The new store would be subdivided from the rest of the building by a new wall.

A small section of office would also be demolished and 55 new carparks would be constructed to service the new business.

Buttercup Bakery operated in the North West from 1968, but closed its doors in 2016 after parent company Goodman Fielder shifted production to Sydney and Canberra, slashing 30 jobs in Tamworth.

Goodman and Fielder is the company behind brands such as Wonder White and Helga's.

The existing building is an amalgamation of three earlier structures which have been gradually connected together over the years to create one large space.

The site has a total floor area of over 3,730m2, with a total site area of 12,168m2 and 16 car parks.

The building would actually shrink to 2,924m2 as a result of the plan, with the new business to occupy 2,200m2.

The project would be completed in a single stage.

The new business is just around the corner from Bunnings.

It's also across the road from a new 4,660 square metre Metroll warehouse and a number of other businesses in Taminda's new Federation Park industrial estate.

Industrial land has proven to be in demand, even at the depths of the region's worst drought in history.

Expressions of interest are also open for the city's new Global Gateway Park near Taminda.

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