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Over the past 10 years it has deteriorated into one of Melbourne’s major eyesores, with police attending regularly to clear out squatters and crack down on other criminal activity.
The former Cancer Council offices, at the corner of Rathdowne and Victoria streets in Carlton, will remain as a blight on the inner-city streetscape after plans to put apartments on the site were once again rejected.
Inside the old Cancer Council building in Carlton, one of Melbourne’s worst eyesores.
The owners say they are unable to knock down the dilapidated building at 1 Rathdowne Street without a demolition permit, but under planning laws that can’t happen until a new development is approved.
“It’s an administrative catch-22,” said next-door neighbour Adam Lewis, who supports development in the hope it would see the anti-social behaviour disappear.
“It’s just been an absolute nightmare living next to it for 10 years now.”
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last week rejected the latest plans – a proposed 67-dwelling apartment complex with buildings three, five and eight storeys high – for the site at the gateway to the city
The owners say they can’t knock down the dilapidated building at 1 Rathdowne Street without a demolition permit.Credit: Eddie Jim
The matter was taken to VCAT after the City of Melbourne knocked back a permit last year to demolish the graffitied structure and replace it with a larger development with 77 apartments and a 13-storey tower.
When it issued its notice of refusal, the council requested that the developers lower the height of the tower from 13 storeys to seven.
Among VCAT’s reasons for blocking the latest permit application were that the proposed building did not acceptably respond to heritage considerations and the low-rise character of Carlton.
The streets around the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens are included in the World Heritage Environs Area, which protects views of the precinct from being impeded by developments.
A render of the proposed development.Credit: City of Melbourne
“The proximity of this site to services means it should be developed to its full potential,” the VCAT decision said.
“However…the heritage and urban design policy elements weigh heavily against [this]. Policy leans heavily toward managing character in this location over accommodating urban growth.“
VCAT also said that the scale of the building was not appropriate for the Carlton location, which was intended to provide a contrast to the tall structures of the Hoddle Grid.
“We find that the extent of higher building exposed to Rathdowne Street, while less in the northern section of the building, remains too abrupt for the lower rise surrounding built form and the low-rise urban character sought for this area,” VCAT said.
The owners of the building say squatters regularly camp inside.
The application was lodged by Royal Garden Manor Pty Ltd. Company records show the sole director is Chinese tycoon Wang Hua, who reportedly bought the building for more than $20.6 million in 2013.
Peter Clarke, development manager for the applicant, said VCAT had ruled there was no reason why the old building shouldn’t be demolished.
“No one will give us a permit to demolish the building until the permit for what’s going to go on it will be granted,” he said.
“So the building sits there as an eyesore until there’s a resolution and that in itself is a concern, given how often it gets broken into.”
The Queen’s Coffee Palace was demolished in 1971.Credit: State Library of Victoria
Clarke said that the building’s doors had been welded shut to prevent people from entering, but intruders armed with power tools still managed to get in through the roof.
“We’re there every week to repair the building, to keep out squatters, drugs and everything else. Police have no shortage of attendance,” he said.
Clarke said the owner has spent close to $2 million trying to get the permits approved: “He’s frustrated, trying to get on with it.“
Many of the 63 public objectors to the development were members of the Carlton Residents Association.
“Given the sensitivity of this particular site, within the World Heritage Environs Area of the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, Carlton Residents Association considers the decision handed down by VCAT to be fair and reasonable,” secretary Lyn Cracknell said.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said nearly everyone agreed that the Cancer Council building should be demolished.
“You wouldn’t find a single resident who would say they didn’t want it knocked down,” they said.
“But it’s better to wait a bit longer for the right development rather than rush in because it’s too terrible,” they said, pointing to the Garden House building further along Rathdowne Street as a good example.
Inside the Cancer Council building.
From 1888 to 1971, the property was the site of the six-storey Queen’s Coffee Palace, which was demolished during an era when many heritage buildings were knocked down.
In 2017, the building’s new owners were issued with a clean-up notice by the City of Melbourne after it became infested with rodents and littered with human waste from squatters.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the site had been dormant for too long but it was “vital that any redevelopment is well considered and displays the highest level of design excellence”.
“We strongly encourage a new application that incorporates the VCAT orders and our recommended amendments,” she said.
“Council has encouraged the owner to seek a planning permit to demolish the existing structures and provide temporary activation on the land.”
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