MEDIA RELEASE
Southbank Heritage Botched
Administrative nightmare created with handover to
Melbourne City Council
Dozens of heritage buildings remain unprotected
Numerous buildings with heritage orders demolished
Heritage orders remain in place after demolitions
MELBOURNE AUGUST 31, 2015. Melbournes Southbank is routinely derided for consisting of largely soul-less streetscapes.
This has happened largely because huge mistakes were made when control of the area was handed over from the City of South Melbourne to Melbourne City Council in 1993. President of activist group Melbourne Heritage Action (MHA), Tristan Davies, said today.
A significant number of recognised heritage buildings in the Southbank area never had a formal heritage order applied to them through the handover.
Prominent among these are the former Castlemaine brewery buildings on Queensbridge street (see Appendix A), all of which have been assessed as significant, but remain wholly unprotected in law.
The set of romanesque warehouses and inter-war offices at 63-69 City Rd (Appendix B), representing one of the few remaining heritage structures anywhere along City Roads tower canyon, are listed as B-grade heritage structures, also unprotected, and now under threat, with all being promoted as future development sites.
Of similar concern to the group is the lack of Council oversight in the rush to redevelop the suburb. Since 1993, Melbourne City Council has allowed a total of eight Southbank buildings with applicable heritage overlays to be demolished (see example at Appendix C).
In highlighting the many inconsistencies, the group was surprised to discover a heritage order has mysteriously been applied across the middle of a section of Clarendon Street.
Theres not a scrap of heritage there, unless they mean the tarmac itself, quipped Mr Davies.
Responding to these concerns, MHA has recently expanded its boundaries to cover the Southbank area, and is now asking Council to take immediate action.
Melbourne Heritage Action today calls on Melbourne City Council to conduct an urgent and comprehensive Southbank heritage survey before its remaining heritage is lost to us, and with it the chance to make Southbank a more liveable environment, said Mr. Davies.
These spaces are the sorts of places that restaurants and galleries and boutiques actively seek to make their home, and thats everything Southbank outside the casino lacks.
This mess needs to be fixed without delay, or what is supposed to be a showpiece suburb for urban renewal will become a lesson for future generations in how NOT to do things.
MHA representatives are available for commentary. Print-resolution versions of images in the Appendices are available on application.
CONTACT Adam Ford, Media Officer
Mob 0425 320 533
Email [email protected]
Appendix A UNPROTECTEDCastlemaine Brewery Buildings, Queensbridge St., Southbank
Appendix A1
117 Queensbridge Street
Castlemaine Brewery Bottling Store, built 1888
Appendix A2
129 Queensbridge Street
Landmark Castlemaine Brewery Malt House, built 1888
Appendix A3
133 Queensbridge Street
Castlemaine Brewery Store, built 1888
Appendix B UNPROTECTEDRomanesque warehouses and inter-war offices, 63-69 City Rd
Appendix C DEMOLISHED with Heritage Overlay ignored115-141 City Rd
