If approved, it will join a late Victorian home opposite destined for the bulldozer.

An application to pull down double storey terraces at 310 Sloane St, next to Magnet Mart, has been on hold since late last year.

Site owner Paul Donaghue of Paul’s Retail Property Group has recently re-lodged the plan, which will partly accommodate Magnet Mart’s expansion.

The former Magnet Mart chairman previously told the Post it was impossible to retain the 1890 terraces.

“We have looked at it for the past 18 months with (architect) Garry Dutaillis on how we could do something with it, but commercially it’s impossible,” Mr Donaghue told the Post last December.

“We went into the money side of things and what Goulburn Mulwaree Council would approve, and retaining it would not work.”

He could not be reached for further comment. The building is listed as a heritage item in Goulburn Mulwaree’s Local Environmental Plan. But architects say the structure is “significantly degraded” and its importance diminished in the block.

The “enormous” upgrade and renovation costs made its retention unviable, a report stated. The developer has lodged a replacement design, as required by council for demolitions in the heritage conservation area. Joint architect Tim Lee said a one and half-storey timber pergola, housing a plant nursery on the bottom floor, would occupy the site.

“Because the two-storey structure has been prominent there for so many years, we are trying to keep that form,” he said.

“So the existing building footprint will be reproduced in the nursery floor plan and the actual structure will be built using a heavy timber frame.”

Original wrought iron on the veranda and the terraces’ bricks and stone will be used in the new building. The existing fence in front of Magnet Mart will be replaced with a brick fence with infill panels similar to nearby St Clair.

Mr Lee believed the replacement was a significant advance on that originally proposed – a “bunch of shade cloths and a chain mesh fence”.

“The main point of the proposal is we’re keeping the memory of the building and providing a link to other significant ones surrounding it, rather than putting in something inappropriate,” he said.

Goulburn Heritage Group member David Penalver is yet to see the detailed plans. But on Friday he told the Post it was a great shame developers weren’t retaining the original building.

“(We’re) very disappointed that yet another piece of the streetscape is proposed to be demolished but at least there has been an attempt to put something of similar scale in its place,” he said.

Mr Penalver said new development was essential to keep Goulburn going but unless the public became more interested in heritage retention, it would become “a dead issue”.

The group will discuss the plan at its meeting this Thursday. The 1140 square metre site will be just one part of Magnet Mart’s redevelopment if the demolition is approved.

The Goulburn, Southern Highlands and some ACT stores merged with John Danks and Sons, a subsidiary of Woolworths last December.

Plans show a much larger store, stretching behind the current terraces and a bigger timber yard. Mr Donaghue did not want to reveal further details last year but said it was essential the home improvement chain put up “something decent” in order to compete with Bunnings.

At the time, he referred to a large imbalance in the sector, with Bunnings holding a 50pc share of the hardware industry.

A $23 million Goulburn store in Hume St, opposite the Big Merino will soon begin in earnest. It’s understood more detailed plans for Magnet Mart’s redevelopment will be lodged if the demolition is approved. The council’s heritage adviser and neighbours have been notified.

The proposal is likely to go to February’s Council meeting. Controversy also broke out last year and this surrounding demolition of 315 Sloane St to make way for a car yard’s expansion. The development was approved this year but work hasn’t started.