Carlton heritage property

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — My question is to the Minister for Planning, represented here by Minister Dalidakis. Carlton’s Corkman Irish Pub has stood proudly on the corner of Leicester and Pelham streets in Carlton for 159 years. The building was recently sold to developers for $4.76 million, who then saw fit to tear the historic and much-loved building down on 15 October without any approval — a move that spewed asbestos across the site and put public health at risk. Without heritage restrictions on the site, it has now doubled in value since its demolition. With a pathetic fine of just $380 000 now in the offing for these reckless developers, what is the government going to do to make sure these developers do not get away with this historic vandalism?

PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) — Thank you, Minister. I look forward to those responses, and I appreciate you getting both ministers to respond to this, because in the past the government has not had a great track record on preserving some of the historic buildings in Melbourne, even in the last two years that it has been in government. I certainly was involved in trying to save the Princess Mary Club, which was left in neglect by the owners. It had a historic overlay on it, but it was left in neglect by the owners.

Mr Davis — Absolutely shameful.

Ms PATTEN — It was absolutely shameful, Mr Davis, and then the government allowed that to be demolished. We are seeing the same thing on our doorstep with the Palace Theatre, where that has been gutted, and I think the government should have intervened. Is the government going to impose further sanctions on these developers who are flouting the laws around development of historic sites?