St Kilda apartment building evacuated over combustible cladding fears

One of Melbourne’s bayside apartment buildings is unfit to be lived in, with residents given two weeks to evacuate over fears it could burst into flames.

A bayside apartment building in Melbourne has been evacuated over safety fears due to combustible cladding.

The Port Phillip Council municipal building surveyor has ordered residents of a St Kilda apartment building with combustible cladding concerns and other fire safety matters to leave within two weeks, Mayor Louise Crawford said in a statement.

The council has not identified the building, other than to the affected owners and residents, due to a state government practice because of arson and terrorism fears.

“The building cannot be lived in after the next fortnight until fire safety concerns have been addressed,” Councillor Crawford said.

“The emergency order follows a recommendation by the independent advisory reference panel to council’s MBS.”

The building was identified by the Victorian Building Authority as part of an audit of buildings across the state to identify compliance and fire safety risks.

The ‘unliveable’ building is located in the bayside suburb of St Kilda. Picture: Alex Coppel

“They assessed the building as having an unreasonable fire risk to the occupants and public, due to the way it was constructed and the presence of combustible cladding,” Cr Crawford said.

“The occupancy permit for this development was issued in the early 2000s by a private building surveyor and not council.”

The building’s owner’s corporation has been advised to engage a fire safety warden onsite from 10pm to 7am every day for the next two weeks to provide time for the occupants to evacuate.

“After that, residents cannot live in the building,” Cr Crawford said.

The aftermath of a cladding fire at the Neo200 building in Melbourne in February 2019. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian.

“This is the first time an order for an evacuation of this kind has been issued in our (council) and our hearts go out to the owners and residents at this distressing time.”

She said the council would do what it could to assist residents needing support.

Planning Minister Richard Wynne in February banned the use of flammable aluminium composite panels and rendered expanded polystyrene as external wall cladding on all future multistorey developments in Victoria.

More than 3200 properties have been inspected over the past three years as part of Victoria’s statewide cladding audit.

The audit was prompted following the Lacrosse apartments fire in Docklands and London’s Grenfell Tower tragedy that claimed the lives of 72 people.

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