Hansard debates

Ms SANDELL (Melbourne) — We are losing important and beautiful buildings across Melbourne at an alarming rate, and I am here to draw attention to one particular case. Recently the City of Melbourne undertook an extensive heritage review of West Melbourne and identified the old Spinks Tinsmiths factory at 488 La Trobe Street as being of heritage significance. The council urged the Minister for Planning to implement interim heritage controls for the site, but he refused. As a result, the building will now be lost. Developers have been given permission to demolish the building and build an 18-storey apartment building instead. The local community is campaigning to stop this destruction, and I stand with them. Due to lack of action by this Labor government and previous governments, we have lost the Princess Mary Club, we have lost the Palace Theatre and we have lost many other buildings. Future generations will look back on these decisions and say, 'How could governments let this happen to our wonderful city?'.