Gerry Harvey wins battle against shopping centre developer with his best weapon – the chequebook

Billionaire retailer Gerry Harvey has won a long and bitter battle over the expansion of a Penrith shopping centre by buying the assets of the centre owner out of receivership for $61 million.

Harvey went to great lengths to protest the expansion of the Penrith SupaCentre (also known as Penrith at Home) by claiming the development would have robbed an adjoining Harvey Norman store of parking spaces and created traffic chaos.

As part of his protest efforts, Harvey took the extraordinary step of making a home-made DVD that was then sent to local Penrith councillors. The movie explained how the traffic chaos and parking problems would eventually cost jobs when sales at his store fall by an estimated 12.7%.

While the DVD appeared to have little effect – the council approved the application of the centre owner, Pipven, to expand the site – Harvey took his fight to the courts, launching a legal challenge against the Penrith City Council over the expansion.

According to court documents from the NSW Supreme Court’s Court of Appeal, Harvey’s property development business Calardu was unsuccessful in its appeal.

In a judgement handed down on August 16, the appeal was dismissed with costs awarded to Penrith City Council.

But the legal battle appears to have taken a heavy toll on Pipven. The company was placed in the hands of receiver David Winterbottom of insolvency firm KordaMentha on May 28.

Winterbottom, who pledged at the time to continue the legal fight for going ahead with the expansion, handed centre management to CB Richard Ellis while he looked for a buyer.

He eventually found one – next door.

Harvey confirmed late last week he had purchased the company from the receivers.

“It cost $61 million to buy the property. It was a very expensive way to get rid of the problem, but now it has disappeared,” Harvey told The Daily Telegraph.

Harvey has promised to make sure there is a “proper cark park” at the centre.