HOBSONS Bay Council has lashed out at the owner of Williamstown’s Oriental Hotel for allowing what is believed to be Victoria’s oldest three-storey brick hotel to become water damaged and deteriorate.
The Weekly last fortnight toured the Nelson Place building after it was fenced off to protect the public in the wake of the Swanston Street wall collapse which killed three people.
As exclusively reported by the Weekly, separate reports commissioned by the council and developer last year both warned the hotel was in danger of collapse.
Mayor Angela Altair last week said the council had asked the developer to fix the hotel’s roof a year ago.
“Most significantly, water continues to leak from the roof, causing further damage,” she said.”The council recommended to the owners [Evolve Development], that they fix problems like this 12 months ago, but this work didn’t get done. The fact is, the [council’s] structural engineer found the condition of the hotel is a direct result of minimal maintenance over a number of years. If there had been proper maintenance . . . the historic building would not be at the point it is now.”
Evolve Development wants to demolish the building (circa 1854) to build a six-storey, 83-dwelling apartment block.
Evolve will appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal next month against the council’s refusal to grant a demolition permit.
Evolve managing director Ashley Williams said it was unsafe for workers to access the roof area for repairs.
“We do not believe that any short-term repairs can be completed safely, and any repairs would in fact require significant demolition and rebuilding works to be effective — all of which require a permit.
“Based on the advice in both the Aurecon and the council report, we remain of the view that the only safe and viable outcome is for the building to be demolished.”
