[Greens-Media] Greens say Planning Department needs to stop demolition works inside Palace Theatre - Pennicuik

[Amanda.Sharp at parliament.vic.gov.au]

Wednesday 19 November 2014

Greens say Planning Department needs to stop demolition works inside 
Palace Theatre

Last night, City of Melbourne officers sought emergency heritage 
protection for the interior of the Palace Theatre in Bourke Street 
following demolition works that have taken place inside the theatre in the 
past few days.

State Greens MP, Sue Pennicuik visited the theatre this morning and called 
on the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure to 
urgently issue an Interim Protection Order to prevent any further 
destruction of the famous and irreplaceable interior fixtures of the 
Palace.

"There is clearly 'evidence of an imminent proposal to destroy, remove or 
disassemble' parts of the interior of the building, so there is no time to 
waste," Ms Pennicuik said. "The Department should be acting without 
delay." 

"It is hard to believe that 100 year old art nouveau tiles and at least 
two period doors were seen yesterday simply thrown in a skip which was 
taken away before they could be recovered.

"In December last year, I raised in state parliament, the need for urgent 
action to not only prevent a high rise tower being built on the site but 
also urgent action to protect the unique interior of the building."

The State Government has a planning scheme amendment process in train for 
the Bourke Hill precinct. A heritage review undertaken for that amendment 
recommended changing the heritage grading from B to D, and the City of 
Melbourne has an amendment in progress to recognise the Palace Theatre as 
a site of local significance, to be considered on December 2.

"So while the state and local government is moving - slowly, to protect 
the Palace Theatre's significant heritage fabric, the owner has demolished 
parts of the interior that is the very subject of those processes.

"The Planning Minister could have acted sooner, before caretaker period, 
to ensure the Palace was protected and that this type of destruction could 
not have taken place before the state and council processes were complete 
or any permits have been issued.

"No wonder the public is cynical and jaded about the planning process not 
working in the public interest or to protect our heritage places.

"It is clear that laws and processes that are meant to protect our 
heritage places in Victoria are in need of review to prevent this type of 
destruction and to better preserve our built and cultural heritage," Ms 
Pennicuik concluded.

For further comment: Sue Pennicuik 0409 055 875 








/////////****************************************************************************//////////// 
Parliament of Victoria . Important Disclaimer Notice: The information contained in this email including any attachments, may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised disclosure, copying or dissemination of all or part of this email, including any attachments, is not permitted. This email, including any attachments, should be dealt with in accordance with copyright and privacy legislation. Except where otherwise stated, views expressed are those of the individual sender.