London Hotel gets reprieve from demolition with Planning Minister Richard Wynne to decide fate

A 150-year-old Melbourne hotel earmarked for demolition to make way for apartments has won a last-minute reprieve from the bulldozers, but its future is still not secure.

Port Phillip Council has Taste review: Mr Lawrence at The London. Picture- Nicole Cleary

THE ICONIC London Hotel was given an 11th hour reprieve from demolition at a council meeting last night.

Port Phillip Council had scrambled to fast-track a heritage assessment of the building after they discovered earlier this year it did not have protection.

A building permit had been issued to the site’s owner, Gary Busuttil — giving him permission to tear down the 150-year-old pub — but a community outcry and more than 100 objections forced the council to take action to halt works.

Port Melbourne’s London Hotel to be bulldozed for apartments

Mr Busuttil, from Middle Park, bought the hotel three years ago for $4 million.

In December 2015 he lodged plans with the council for an eight-storey building with 32 apartments, basement car parking and a ground-floor restaurant.

The council was then bombarded with objections and a social media storm.

It is now up to Planning Minister Richard Wynne to decide if the building will be saved.

Mr Wynne has already denied the council’s earlier request for interim heritage controls on the Beach St pub, because no heritage study backed up claims of heritage or social significance.

The 58-page London Hotel Cultural Heritage Values Assessment 2016 report, made available at 4pm yesterday, provided the evidence the council needed to reapply for the controls.

The report, by Context Pty Ltd, said the hotel had been a “centre for Port Melbourne’s social life for over 150 years”.

“The London Hotel is socially significant … for its landmark qualities at a traditional entry point to Port Melbourne,” the report said.

The interim controls will trigger the need for a planning permit to demolish the waterfront building.

If the controls are applied, the current building permit for demolition would remain valid but could not be legally acted on without a planning permit.

Port People president Rowan Groves told last night’s meeting losing the London Hotel would “sever much of the connection with the history” of Port Melbourne.

“Station Pier is the maritime gateway to Melbourne and has been for over 150 years,” he said.

“It was bad enough when Centenary Bridge was pulled down in the early ’90s — it’s a loss that’s still keenly felt by the local community.”

Mr Busuttil said the report was “sprung on him” at 4pm and asked for more time to consider what it meant for the future of his development.

“I’ve spent the last four years working up the project — thousands of hours and millions of dollars,” he said.

If the interim heritage controls are approved by Mr Wynne, the council will seek to instate permanent heritage controls.

A heritage overlay would mean a planning permit would be needed for any future development and would limit the size and scale of development.

Cr Anita Horvath said she was pleased the council now had the evidence to persuade Mr Wynne to grant the interim order.

“If any building is significant to the people, and has been since its construction, it’s the London Hotel,” she said.

“I hope … the evidence we provide to the Minister will persuade him to act in the interest of the building.”

Mayor Bernadene Voss said the hotel was “significant community attachment” to the hotel.

“There is such loss in Port Melbourne from the old ways and this is one of the few vestiges left that the community is really trying to hold on to as a reminder of (them),” she said.