By Cara Waters
A $42 million legal dispute between businesses at Docklands’ shuttered Central Pier and state government agency Development Victoria has been settled for a confidential sum.
The case was settled on Monday, just as an eight-day hearing was set to begin in the case that was filed five years ago.
The fenced-off Central Pier at Docklands in 2021. Credit: Chris Hopkins
Federal Court Justice Timothy McEvoy made orders in the proceedings reflecting a settlement between the parties with no order made as to costs.
The historic pier, which housed function spaces and restaurants, was subject to an emergency evacuation in August 2019 due to safety concerns about its structural integrity, with diners given just 15 minutes to finish their meals.
It has remained closed ever since and demolition of the 108-year-old pier and its two goods sheds began in September last year.
A group of tenants launched action in the Federal Court in 2019 accusing Development Victoria of gross negligence and incompetence in allowing businesses to continue operating while knowing the pier was in danger of collapse.
Before the pier’s dramatic evacuation, it housed The Woolshed Pub, function spaces, Cargo restaurant and major tenant the Atlantic Group, which employed more than 1300 staff at its stable of restaurant and bar venues.
Atlantic Group chief executive Hatem Saleh said the settlement was achieved following “productive discussions” with Development Victoria outside the scheduled Federal Court hearing.
“It’s been a challenging number of years for all involved, and we are now getting on with what we do best,” he said. “We’d like to thank the state government for its support in working to resolve this matter in collaboration with Development Victoria.”
A Development Victoria spokesperson said: “The parties have agreed to resolve the dispute on confidential terms and the proceeding has been dismissed. We are unable to comment on the terms of settlement, which are confidential.”
The businesses claimed Development Victoria knew when it signed a lease with the tenants in mid-2015 that the pier was deteriorating “at an increasing rate, despite the repair works it was carrying out”.
They also claimed Development Victoria led tenants to believe that the repairs being undertaken would mean they could continue to do business until the end of their lease in 2026, but said this claim was misleading and deceptive.
The business owners claimed the government agency knew for almost a year that the pier risked “catastrophic failure” but delayed acting in an apparent attempt to avoid spending tens of millions of dollars on repairs and compensation payments.
Documents filed in the court proceeding show that 10 months before access to the pier was suddenly closed, Development Victoria general manager Simon Wilson told his agency’s senior management and board: “The previous ‘high’ risk has been increased to extreme.”
“The impact of failure is now in the extreme category as the structure continues to deteriorate despite rectification works,” he wrote in an email.
A month later, engineering firm KBR — which had been responsible for monitoring the structure since at least 2013 — sent an explicit warning to Development Victoria about the severity of the threat.
“Due to the deterioration of the structural integrity of the pier, there is a significantly heightened risk to users, including the general public, from a catastrophic failure,” the firm wrote in November 2018.
“Although no structural failure has occurred to this point, the condition is such that a structural failure is likely to be sudden, without warning and catastrophic. The risk of injuries or fatalities in such an event is high.”
Closed in 2019 over safety concerns from its crumbling foundations, Central Pier will be partly demolished.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Heritage Victoria issued a permit to Development Victoria allowing it to demolish the whole structure, which has continued to deteriorate since its closure and is now too unsafe to access or restore.
Last month, the government announced a joint venture agreement with the AFL to explore redevelopment opportunities to transform Harbour Esplanade, which fronts Central Pier.
One proposal is to replace the pier with a large fish-shaped structure containing a fresh food market, hawker-style eateries, restaurants, a conference centre and a university marine biology campus.
The demolition of the pier and its buildings is expected to take several years to complete.