Forget about Bunnings until after lockdown: Sydney stores are PACKED the weekend before snap closure with long queues for entry and carparks full

Dozens of shoppers have been pictured queuing to get into Bunnings stores with packed car parks forcing vehicles to spill out onto the streets in a last ditch effort to get their hands on DIY goods and homewares before it closes for the foreseeable future.

Images from Rockdale in Sydney's south show lines of people waiting to get inside despite Bunnings caving in to media pressure last week and announcing they would no longer let customers inside unless they were tradesman.

A string of retailers such as garden centres, hardware stores and office and pet supply chains will all be forced to shut from Monday and offer click and collect services only in 12 LGAs of concern in Sydney's west and south-west.

But the popular hardware retailer went a step further, saying they would close all its stores in Greater Sydney to reduce movement of people between LGAs.

'This is in support of the government and for the safety and security of team members, customers and the community,' Bunnings managing director Mike Schneider said.

'We know from experience that applying a consistent approach across a metropolitan area is easier for our team to manage and helps reduce travel by residents between LGAs.' 

Pictures from Saturday suggest the mandate is yet to be enforced.

Dozens of shoppers have been pictured queuing to get into Bunnings stores with packed car parks forcing vehicles spilling out onto the streets

Images from Rockdale and Artarmon warehouse outlets show huge lines of people waiting to get inside despite Bunnings caving in to media pressure last week and announcing they would no longer let customers inside unless they were tradies.

Carparks are full at some of Sydney's most popular Bunnings warehouses on Saturday despite the company saying they would no longer allow customers to walk into the outlets

Last week Daily Mail Australia revealed the 'essential' items Sydneysiders were travelling to shop for, despite several Bunnings warehouses repeatedly being designated as Covid exposure sites.

Shoppers were pictured streaming through the doors of the city's busiest Bunnings store to pick up paint tins, potting mix and new plants on a weekday morning in Sydney.

A full carpark at the Rockdale outlet has seen cars spewing out onto the street waiting to get in to pick up their homewares.

Inside there are huge lines of people waiting to get instore, which will be banned within the 12 LGAs of concern from Monday - although Bunnings have publicly said they will enforce it city-wide.

Bunnings has been deemed essential by the NSW Government throughout Greater Sydney's nine-week, with people saying Bunnings stay open has become a symbol of how Gladys Berejiklian's government has so recklessly endangered the country with a weak, belated lockdown - a 'mockdown'.

Meanwhile, Sydney's five million residents prove with their repeated business that they are clinging to one of the few freedoms they have left - the right to scour the store's aisles for Ryobi drills and spak filler - as Daily Mail Australia observed on a trip to one prominent superstore.

BUNNINGS STATEMENT ON CROWDS AT SYDNEY STORES ON SATURDAY 

 Since the outset of COVID-19, we have put the welfare and care of our team and customers at the core of what we do and we have incredibly comprehensive COVID-19 protocols in place across our store network. This weekend, like others, we’re using our ‘count me in’ app to cap the number of customers in store at any given time and help ensure physical distancing.

This means that customers at a few of our stores have had to wait for a short time before entering. We have clear markings to indicate how people should queue, and our team are making sure that customers are physically distanced.

We thank customers for following all the COVID-safe guidelines we have in place and our team who are doing an incredible job helping customers access the products that they need.

 Shoppers were pictured streaming through the doors of the city's busiest Bunnings store to pick up paint tins, potting mix and new plants on a weekday morning in Sydney

A full carpark at the Rockdale outlet has seen cars spewing out onto the street waiting to get in to pick up their homewares.

A country divided over gardening supplies: A Sydney shopper clicks and collects a new veggie planter on Thursday - but would have been free to roam the aisles of Bunnings if he wished

Essential cleaning supplies: A young woman in activewear ducked into Bunnings to collect a new broom and a large set of Vileda microfibre cloths on Thursday morning. In Melbourne, she would have had to order it online

Tradesmen will be allowed to enter the stores under the new restrictions but other customers will need to either order online or use the contactless drive and collect system.

Bunnings stores around regional NSW will remain open to customers. 

The popular hardware store had earlier popped up on several exposure sites listed for the state prompting reporters to ask Ms Berejiklian why she hadn't closed the retailer during lockdown. 

Sky News' Andrew Clennell at the start of the month asked the premier why a range of stores including the Reject Shop and Bunnings were kept open when essential retail was meant to be closed. 

Ms Berejiklian claimed NSW's lockdown rules were 'some of the harshest' the nation had seen, but admitted 'non-critical retail' such as the Reject Shop should be closed.

'Why is Bunnings open?' Clennell asked. 

The premier turned her gaze away from the reporter and said 'next question', ignoring his attempts at a follow-up.

Ms Berejiklian's dodge of the question sparked uproar on social media given the store has often appeared on exposure site lists.

Business journalist and commentator Janine Perrett tweeted: 'Poor form. Berejiklian is asked a very valid question as to why so many Bunnings are turning up on exposure sites and still open to public and she simply refuses to answer.' 

Under Victoria's Stage Four lockdown restrictions, Bunnings was closed except to tradespeople seeking items for essential or emergency repair work.

One Twitter user suggested Victoria's approach to Bunnings was a model for NSW. 'It's not rocket science.

Is this Bunnings purchase proof Sydney is in a 'mockdown' ... or an entirely reasonable purchase of premium potting mix? Australia is riven by a bitter debate over whether the country's biggest city keeping the major hardware store open

 

A customer grabs some goods out of her trolley after a brief shop at the popular warehouse 

Ducking in for some basics: Dutifully masked customers pick up a shelf and a paint roller (on right) respectively  

A couple heap their new belongings into the back of their car - including a sturdy-looking new broom

Many members of the 'close Bunnings' brigade appear to be anxious residents of other states, who fret the city's Delta outbreak will engulf the nation.

The demands appear to stem in part from Melbourne's harsh, but ultimately successful, hard lockdown of 2020.  

Then - and now, in the city's current lockdown - warehouses were only open for tradies, with the wider population required to click 'n' collect. 

'Why not click & collect? Like Melbourne does during lockdown? It’s just common sense', one social media user railed. 

Meanwhile, critics point to hard numbers that show Covid keeps popping up at Bunnings stores. 

According to a startling tally, compiled by a Twitter user, there were 20 exposure events at Bunnings stores in the 14 days to August 6. 

That included six exposures at Bunnings Greenacre alone - a venue right in the centre of hard-hit south-west Sydney.  

Keeping the fires burning: A couple pick up a half-dozen of BBQ coals and a roll of carpet from the warehouse superstore on Thursday 

Gardening supplies were popular among shoppers likely keen to spend some time getting their hands dirty in the yard - given there are few other legal activities available to Sydneysiders 

Even some Bunnings staff admit their customers don't need to be there.  

'Ninety per cent of people don't need to be here,' one worker told Daily Mail Australia. 

'They need groceries and petrol only'. 

'Why aren't some of these businesses shut?' Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell thundered at Ms Berejiklian's press conference last Wednesday. 

'Can't you go harder with this lockdown because what you are doing at the moment hasn't reduced the numbers? Why is Bunnings open?' 

Ms Berejiklian dismissed the barrage of questions. 

But there is another side to the debate - not least that millions of Sydney residents are mostly trapped inside with little to do, something that isn't going to change any time soon.

An impassioned Facebook post urging people not to judge Bunnings shoppers has caught fire online in recent days.

The post highlights how Bunnings sells goods which are critical to the essential work of helping people with their mental health. 

The viral post said: 'Do you ever think maybe that guy buying a litre of paint knows he must keep busy because idle hands in the past has caused him to relapse and pick up that case of beer?

'So he's using this time to do home improvements, something that keeps his mind busy while feeling a sense of accomplishment, trying to avoid painful triggers while possibly alone?'

It continues: 'Maybe that lady buying bags of soil and seeds, has struggled with depression and suicide?'

'How do you know that planting and watching something beautiful grow during this time of darkness, isn't essential to her, helping her to hold on to what little hope she might still have.'

The popular chain letter goes to argue that 'we are all on edge but please stop being so judgmental of others' when Bunnings provides such necessary outlets to so many Sydney residents. 

Gardening supplies were popular for shoppers (left and right) at Sydney's sprawling, two-storey outlet in Alexandria - perhaps because there's not much else to do at home

A half-dozen bags of compost sit loaded up, ready for customers to carry them home, at the store in the city's inner east

This viral post has swept social media arguing that Bunnings supplies essential goods for peoples' mental health

After questions about Bunnings, NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said large stores weren't driving transmission. Ms Berejiklian ignored follow up questions about why Bunnings stores were open

more videos

Would-be robbers flee as homeowner starts shooting during break-in

Trump blasts Afghanistan withdrawal as worst military defeat ever

New study claims masks only 10% effective in preventing COVID

Taliban release propaganda video showing off US military equipment

Afghans desperate to flee the country crowd outside the airport

Women climb up wall outside Kabul airport near razor wire

Covid-19 cases surge as Delta variant spreads in the US

Elderly man falls to ground after being shoved off bus in the Bronx

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announces new indoor mask mandate

Notorious vegan activist storms a luxury clothes shop

The UK must not take its "eye off the ball" with Covid-19 vaccinations

Jacksonville, Florida is being hit hard by COVID-19 Delta variant

The other argument for Bunnings to stay open comes from the medical establishment. 

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant addressed the Bunnings question last week at a fiery press conference. 

Dr Chant made clear that large stores, such as supermarkets and no doubt Bunnings, weren't her major concern.  

'I've got to say in terms of large supermarkets or large spaces are not actually driving transmission,' she said.

The state has seen just a handful of transmission events in big stores such as supermarkets, she said.  

'But I can't stress enough that every time you are out and about, please do your part by minimising the number of stores you enter,' she added. 

Dr Chant has recently pointed to Covid transmission in essential workplaces and among households as the bigger issue. 

Households, it seems, that are still being well maintained.  

BUNNINGS STORES: COVID RESTRICTIONS STATE BY STATE ACROSS AUSTRALIA AS LOCKDOWNS ROLL ON 

ACT:  

'Our stores in the ACT remain open to ensure customers and tradespeople have access to the products they need to complete emergency repairs and maintenance around homes or to supply essential infrastructure and services, in line with government guidance. 

NSW 

'Our stores located in the local government areas of Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Shellharbour, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Dungog, Singleton, Muswellbrook, Armidale, Tamworth, Byron, Lismore, Ballina and Dubbo regions are classified as critical and remain open to ensure customers and tradespeople have access to the products they need to complete emergency repairs and maintenance around homes or to supply essential infrastructure and services, in line with government guidance.'

VICTORIA:  

'Following the latest Victorian Government announcement, our stores in regional Victoria are open for retail and trade customers from Tuesday 10 August.

'Metro Melbourne stores remain open for trade customers only. During this time our Metro Melbourne retail customers can still purchase the items they need online, using Bunnings’ Click & Deliver or contactless Drive & Collect service, where products can be ordered online and collected from Bunnings’ car parks, without customers needing to get out of their car.' 

QUEENSLAND:  

'Our Cairns Central and Smithfield stores are classified as essential and remain open to ensure customers and tradespeople have access to the products they need to complete emergency repairs and maintenance around homes or to supply essential infrastructure and services, in line with government guidance. Face masks

In line with the latest Government and public health advice, we require all customers and team members to wear a face mask when visiting our stores and sites located in the following local government areas: Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Morton, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Cairns, unless medically exempt.' 

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 

'In line with government guidance, our stores in South Australia remain open to ensure customers and tradespeople have access to the products they need to complete emergency repairs and maintenance around homes or to supply essential infrastructure and services.

'We encourage customers to please shop online wherever possible using Bunnings’ Click & Deliver or contactless Drive & Collect service, where products can be ordered online and collected from Bunnings’ car parks, without needing to get out of the car.' 

NORTHERN TERRITORY: 

'In line with the latest Government and public health advice, masks are no longer mandatory for our team and customers, although they are more than welcome to wear one if they wish.' 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 

'In line with the latest Government and public health advice, masks are no longer mandatory for our team and customers.'

SOURCE: Bunnings