Caulfield Park’s 48-year-old flower stall Valentina’s Flowers ordered to close
A beloved flower stall which has been a popular mainstay of Caulfield Park for nearly 50 years has been ordered to shut despite paying hundreds of dollars a month in rent, with the forced removal of the iconic shop slammed as “absurd”.
Inner South
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A landmark roadside flower stall in Caulfield North has been given its marching orders.
The popular stall has been an institution at Caulfield Park for nearly 50 years but has been ordered to close by Glen Eira Council after it was deemed “not appropriate” for the land.
In a letter sent to the owner this month the council said the stall did not have a formal lease for the site and must shut by December 29.
The Leader understands the council refused to issue a new lease for Valentina’s Flowers about three years ago “in anticipation of new regulations”, but new terms were never negotiated.
The letter said the stall, which is on crown land managed by the council, was out of step with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning policies and the council’s Open Space Strategy.
But the owner has continued to pay about $500 a month in rent to the council.
Operator Lisa Marmur, who only took over running the stall in July, she had scrambled to get a petition going to allow the stall to stay.
More than 180 people signed it in just three days last weekend.
“People were pulling up saying they didn’t need flowers today, they just wanted to sign the petition,” she said.
“And it wasn’t just people from this community, there were people coming from Bayside and Stonnington to sign.”
Ms Marmur said the council’s move to close the beloved stall was “absurd”.
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“The paperwork may have stopped but (the council) were happy to keep accepting rent for the site,” she said.
“I understand it might be the law, but there’s the letter of the law and the spirit of the law — this is my livelihood but it’s also an institution.
“To suddenly say you can’t be here because of this policy seems so arbitrary and absurd,” she said.
The Open Space Strategy “discourages non-open space infrastructure in parks”.
But Ms Marmur said the stall was “as low impact as it comes”.
“There is the actual stall, but no other infrastructure there — there isn’t even a tap,” she said.
Ms Marmur said she filled about five 20L buckets at her home to take to the stall and emptied them on to nearby trees at the park at the end of the day.
“It’s crazy and I just don’t understand why (the council) suddenly has an issue,” she said.
“It’s a really sad situation that goes beyond just the loss of my business.
“Setting aside my own concerns I’m just deeply saddened by the stall not being there into the future.
“I’m 42, I grew up in the area and the shop has always been there in my lifetime.”
Glen Eira Council declined to comment on specific details of its negotiations with the stallholder for “privacy and confidentiality” reasons but Mayor Jamie Hyams said the State Government had “recently been active in contacting councils” to remind them of the policies applying to Crown land.
“Council officers recently reviewed the arrangements for the site in line with State Government policy and liaised with the stallholder regarding next steps,” he said.
Under DELWP policy, a commercial vendor can only operate on Crown land with approval of the relevant minister and a formal lease or licence, which must be granted via a public expression of interest process.
There is no formal avenue of appeal open to Ms Marmur, however the reasonableness of the council’s actions can be considered by the Victorian Ombudsman.