Housing developers have unlawfully demolished the site of the old Carlton Inn Hotel in Melbourne, more recently The Corkman Irish Pub. Victoria's Minister for Planning, Richard Wynne, told 774 ABC Melbourne radio station that the 159-year-old pub in Carlton was demolished without permission from the local council.
Sources say Melbourne City Council had issued a stop-work order over the weekend when it was notified by locals that the developers had begun demolishing the building. According to Mr. Wynne, the developers also went ahead without demolition or planning permits.
"It's an outrageous circumstance we find ourselves in where without any demolition permit, or indeed planning permit, these cowboys come along, buy the site for $4.7 million, ignore all of the planning frameworks and just knock the building down," Wynne told 774 ABC Melbourne.
Wynne said that the developers could face a maximum fine of $200,000 for going ahead with the demolition, but that clearly does not seem to be a strong enough deterrent for projects like these that could bring in millions of dollars.
Wynne said that stronger penalties need to be in place.
"I'm very happy to have a look at what other opportunities there are for us to consider much stronger penalties when clearly you have a commercial development here for which the developer is going to make a lot of money," Wynne told the radio station.
"This is a very significant commercial development potentially, with very significant profit available to the developer, who have thumbed their nose at the planning regime. They ought not get away with it."
According to the Daily Mail Australia, the developers had purchased the pub a month prior to the demolition when The Corkman moved to new premises a block away.
The Corkman licensee, Chris Fitzgerald, told AAP, "We had no idea what the plans of the owners were, we just gave notice once we purchased The Last Jar."
"We were there for 14 years. It's a long time. It was a great venue. It accommodated the uni crowd, both students and staff and academic groups."
According to the Daily Mail, the pub had not been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, which could have prevented the developers from demolishing the site.
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