Port Melbourne’s London Hotel to be bulldozed for apartments

ONE of Port Phillip’s oldest landmark hotels is set to be bulldozed to make way for apartments, sparking outrage on social media.

The London Hotel is set to be demolished.

UPDATE: PORT Melbourne locals and visitors have taken to social media to object to developers tearing down the iconic London Hotel to replace it with apartments.

The building, which dates back to the 1860s, does not have heritage overlay, and developers have lodged plans with Port Phillip Council for an eight-storey building to accommodate 32 apartments, with basement car parking and a restaurant on the ground floor.

The council received more than 100 objections for the plans.

Readers took to Facebook to express their dismay at the plans to raze the popular hotel.

Ben Holgate wrote on Facebook he thought the move was “outrageous”.

“If this can go, anything can. We are going to live in an overcrowded sea of bland concrete. Minister has to step in,” he wrote.

Jodie Finger said the move was “ridiculous”.

“I’m not against development but it must be sympathetic to the suburbs heritage and historical architecture,” she said.

“Port Melbourne doesn’t need more poorly designed ugly concrete box apartment buildings that don’t have the appropriate amount of car spaces for residents and have bland street level views.”

The Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation society members also say they are shocked the popular London Hotel, on Beach St, Port Melbourne, will be razed to make way for an apartment building.

Port Phillip Mayor Bernadene Voss said developers had lodged plans to the council for an eight-storey building to accommodate 32 apartments, with basement car parking and a restaurant on the ground floor.

So far, there have been more than 100 objections lodged with the council.

While the council cannot apply heritage overlay itself, it does have the option of writing to Planning Minister Richard Wynne to apply for an interim overlay.

“Officer assessment and advice suggest the London Hotel is not of either local architectural or cultural significance and does not warrant heritage protection, Cr Voss said.

“The officer’s view is supported by multiple studies which all came to the same findings.”

Historical society secretary Pat Grainger said the members of the group were “shocked” when they found out about the plans to raze the London Hotel.

“It’s rather unthinkable that the London would be removed,” Ms Grainger said.

“It had never, ever had heritage overlay, and we quite understand why because so much of it has been demolished, but it’s the position, and the social, historical significance of it, that’s it’s so shocking to think it would be removed.

“As an icon and as a landmark, it still has a lot of significance, so to remove it, is to lose the only remaining pivot there. Everything else is gone and turns us into nowhere.”

“We have expressed our dismay to the council, that it never has had heritage overlay.”