In 1994 Westfield Group bought a controlling stake in Bondi Junction Plaza from AMP and renamed it Westfield Bondi Junction Plaza. They began planning a redevelopment of the shopping centre and the Grace Brothers site opposite. The first Development Application was lodged with the two councils in 1996 due to the site being located on the border of Waverley and Woollahra councils. The councils were unable to reach a joint conclusion between themselves and Westfield on the development. While they agreed in principle to the development, they variously objected to the scale of the project. In 1997 the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Craig Knowles, approved the initial concept for a redeveloped shopping centre which was then dragged on into 1998 before the NSW government assumed planning control of the project. It was subsequently approved with minor modification. Westfield did not begin development immediately, in view of the then imminent 2000 Olympics.