Historic pub unlawfully demolished
Developers who destroyed an historic and well-known Melbourne pub will be up for a steep fine.
The developers demolished the Corkman Irish Pub, previously known as the Carlton Inn, in defiance of a council stop work notice.
The pub, built in 1857, stood at the corner of Leicester and Pelham streets in the inner city suburb of Carlton.
It was located opposite University Square gardens and Melbourne University's law school. It was a popular hangout for university students.
It also had a lot of historical value. According to a heritage assessment, it was one of the area's earliest existing buildings.
The company 160 Leicester Pty Ltd paid $4.76 million for the pub last August and sent in Shaq Demolition and Excavation to knock it down.
The pub had already been partially burnt by fire.
Residents called the Melbourne City Council on Saturday night, complaining about the demolition noise coming from the pub. By the time council inspectors arrived, the pub had been almost completely demolished.
The city council had issued a stop-work order to prevent further demolition and clearly the demolition crew arrived to finish off the job.
Planning Minister Richard Wynne described the developers as “cowboys.”
"It's an outrageous circumstance we find ourselves in where without any demolition permit, or indeed planning permit, these cowboys come along, buy the site for $4.7 million, ignore all of the planning frameworks and just knock the building down," Mr Wynne told ABC radio.
He said the case would go to the Victorian Building Authority. The developer faces fines of up to $20,000 but Mr Wynne said some developers could afford that because they were on big margins. He said the government would now look at increasing the penalties for unlawful demolition.
"This is a very significant commercial development potentially, with very significant profit available to the developer, who have thumbed their nose at the planning regime. They ought not get away with it,’’ he said.
by Leon Gettler, October 18th 2016
