It has already been opposed by a Melbourne City Council planning report. Melbourne Council will vote on it on Tuesday July 1.
Now Guy says he plans to introduce mandatory height controls which will restrict buildings between 15m to 23m in the area east of Exhibition Street. “Not every part of the central city is appropriate for high rise development – the Bourke Hill parliamentary precinct is one that needs proper protection,” he is quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.
Guy has been talking about these mandatory heights since last December. He was also under pressure from Melbourne’s music industry to step in and buy the site to save The Palace. But the Government had its hands tied and faced possible legal action from the developers Jinshan Investors.
Of the latest news, the Save The Palace group, with 36,000 supporters, declared, “The pressure may well just have worked,” it added in a post, “Whilst not a confirmation of the mandatory heights, that were promised by him in December last year, it is awesome to see it in the media again and direct quotes. Now to put those quotes into action Minister Guy!”
The closure of the Palace, dubbed one of the best clubs in the world by Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, has received strong international condemnation.
Earlier this month, Soundwave/Big Day Out promoter AJ Maddah, in a keynote address at Sydney’s Vivid Live pointed out that the closure of the 2,000 capacity Palace Theatre “affects the whole music industry in Australia.” He said that its closure left a gaping hole between Billboard and the Forum (capacity between 1,100 and 1,400) and Festival Hall’s 5,000.
Maddah emphasized, “That gap makes it very difficult for not just touring bands, but Australian bands that want to make that jump from pub level to arena-level or 5000-capacity level. There’s no step in between. It really is one of the most damaging things that (has) happened.”
