New village beats virus

A highly anticipated multimillion-dollar shopping centre in Karratha is on-track for completion by the end of the year despite COVID-19 creating uncertainty for many building projects across the world. The second phase of the $17 million Tambrey Village Shopping Centre in Nickol which is set to include a supermarket, medical centre, bottle shop, pharmacy and a variety of food outlets is due to open in November. The first phase of the shopping centre, which was first mooted in 2010 and started development in October, included a Hungry Jacks and Liberty Fuel station that opened in March. Developer Cooksey Property Group director Doug Cooksey said there had been no major disruptions to building during the COVID-19 pandemic. The global pandemic wasn’t the first hurdle this year the project had faced, with ex-tropical cyclone Damien hitting the town during construction earlier this year. “Flights have been difficult but the builders have been doing a good job at working their way around that and in particular they are using as many local trades as possible, so no there has been no delay,” he said. “It’s tough building conditions, so we are pretty happy with our builders to maintain program.” Mr Cooksey said there was one tenancy left to fill.