Pellegrini’s owner hits out at Bourke St injecting room speculation as Sally Capp left in dark on location

The owner of Melbourne institution Pellegrini’s has joined Guy Grossi to hit out at the idea of a Bourke St injecting room, saying the area is plagued with issues and emergency workers are exhausted.

The owner of a beloved Melbourne restaurant says the idea of a Bourke St injecting room is “very worrying” as he called for a better location for the facility.

And Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has slammed speculation surrounding the location of the state’s second safe injecting room.

It’s reported the new injecting room could be housed at the Salvation Army building on Bourke St, 200m from state parliament.

But David Malaspina, owner of Pellegrinis restaurant on Bourke St, said he feared the lack of consultation over the idea.

David Malaspina, owner of Pellegrinis, is worried about the lack of consultation. Picture: Wayne Taylor

“The Salvos do an amazing job in the CBD, thank goodness for the Salvos because there a lot of people sleeping rough and they do a great job to help.

“But I think there has to be a better location to help people long-term.

“I know we’re biased but this is the most beautiful part of the city a couple of hundred metres from Parliament House.

“I think better locations should be considered.

“From what we understand this could bring a large number of potential drug users together and you’re going to do so in tight groups surrounded with alleyways and carparks, it’s probably not a good mix.

“We already have those issues here and we don’t want that to escalate.

“The police are already under-resourced and our ambulance workers are exhausted, we see emergency workers here on a daily and weekly basis.

“It’s also very hard for police and ambulance to park along here. Why don’t we put it in an area that not only makes sense but protects the people that need these facilities long-term and provide them with the right resources that should go hand in hand?

“Let’s find a better location and a long-term location.”

Guy Grossi has slammed the idea of a Bourke St facility. Picture: Aaron Francis

It comes after Guy Grossi, one of Melbourne’s top restaurateurs, said an injecting room in Bourke St would introduce more crime and violence to a CBD already struggling to attract visitors.

Owner of Florentino and the Cellar Bar, Guy Grossi, slammed the idea of a CBD facility.

“We support saving lives but the safe injecting room should not be located at the Salvation Army on Bourke street or anywhere in the CBD,” he said.

“The top end of Bourke St is a theatre and entertainment precinct. It is a precinct where families go to experience Melbourne.

Mr Grossi said it was “well known that the safe injecting room increases violence and crime in the area with questions around lifesaving and life improvement”.

“To purport that a CBD version of a safe injecting room will be different is an absurdity,” he said.

“The last thing the city needs at a time when population and visitation is so low, safety a growing concern and employers are struggling to continue to generate an offer — is a safe injection room that attracts more violence, illegal activity with debatable results in achieving its fundamental objective.”

“People who work in the city, live in the city or employ people in the city and people who visit and use our city should be able to do so in a safe and peaceful way.

Cellar Bar on Bourke St, nearby the site speculated as a home for Melbourne’s second injecting room.

Rumours mounted about the second facility in 2021 after the state government bought the former Yooralla building on Flinders St.

A second supervised centre was first proposed by the government in 2020 following the opening of the controversial North Richmond facility.

Ms Capp told 3AW she was not aware the Andrews government was talking to the Salvos about the proposed site.

“We have not had any updates from the state government on their plans for this facility,” she said on Wednesday.

“I spend a lot of time up at the Salvos … it’s not an integrated health facility.

“We remain focused on any such facility, considering the amenity and safety of surrounding traders, residents and workers and importantly that any such facility must have integrated health services.”

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said speculation about the location was “highly damaging”. Picture: Alex Coppel

Ms Capp said speculation about the location was “highly damaging”.

“I’ve already had a trader on the phone early this morning,” she said.

“The angst and the anxiety that comes from all of the rumours and the rumour mill is overwhelming for so many traders.

“This is just another sense of uncertainty and anxiety that traders don’t need when they’re still trying to recover from the enormous destruction and devastation of Covid.”

But Brendan Nottle, who runs Salvos Project 614 centre on Bourke St, said a second injecting room would save lives.

“After more than 20 years working in the CBD I have seen first-hand the ongoing impacts of drug overdoses and drug-related deaths,” he said.

“I have said for many years we need a second supervised injecting room in the CBD because it will save lives.

“Any proposed location is a matter for the Victorian Government and I will leave it to them to get on with their work.”

The former Yooralla building on Flinders Street was another proposed site for the second safe injecting facility. Picture: Mark Stewart

It’s understood the state government is still looking at several options for the site and has issued no formal request to locate an injecting room at the centre.

American Tailors owner Sebastian Giacobello said the site, located directly opposite his business, was a “potential for disaster”.

“We do need to find a suitable spot but there are lots of restaurants here with people sitting outside and you don’t want to have people coming up to you and making customers uncomfortable,” he said.

Mr Giacobello’s business partner Antonio Raneri said intoxicated and drug-fuelled people have run into the store before.

“We’ve had people fighting outside and then running in here for protection,” he said.

“If it were up to me, I’d put it next to a hospital or a police station.”

Originally published as Pellegrini’s owner hits out at Bourke St injecting room speculation as Sally Capp left in dark on location