Corner Hotel Yarra C191 Raworth - Home | Yarra City Council · 2019-11-27 · Final Draft 2002) and...

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Corner Hotel 57-61 Swan Street, Richmond Expert Witness Statement to Panel Amendment C191 to the Yarra Planning Scheme Bryce Raworth Conservation Consultant and Architectural Historian Prepared under instruction from Norton Rose Fulbright November 2019

Yarra Amendment C191 Corner Hotel

Richmond, VIC

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Contents

1.0 Introduction .................................................................................... 2

2.0 Sources of Information ................................................................... 2

3.0 Author Qualifications ...................................................................... 3

4.0 Declaration ..................................................................................... 3

5.0 History & Description ...................................................................... 4

6.0 Heritage Listings .......................................................................... 15

7.0 Significance .................................................................................. 16

8.0 Analysis ........................................................................................ 18


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1.0 Introduction

1. This report was prepared under instructions from Norton Rose Fulbright for the owner and operator of the Corner Hotel, 57-61 Swan Street, Richmond. I have been asked to comment on the heritage considerations associated with the Amendment C191 the Yarra Planning Scheme. Inter alia, Amendment C191 proposes to introduce a Design and Development Overlay for sites in the Swan Street Activity Centre, within which is located the Corner Hotel. The Amendment also seeks to remove the Corner Hotel from the Richmond Hill Precinct (HO332) and include it as an individually significant building within the Swan Street Precinct (HO335).

2. This statement has been prepared with assistance from Martin Turnor of my office. The views

expressed are my own.

2.0 Sources of Information

3. The analysis below draws upon inspections of the exterior and interiors of the subject building and a review of the Amendment C191 documentation, which includes the Swan Street Built Form Heritage Review and Swan Street Built Form Study – Heritage Assessments & Analysis prepared by GJM Heritage. Past heritage studies of the area were also reviewed,

including the Richmond Conservation Study (John & Thurley O’Connor and Ros Coleman & Heather Wright, 1985), the City of Yarra Heritage Review (Allom Lovell & Associates, 1998),

the City of Yarra Review of Heritage Precincts (Ian Wight Planning & Heritage Strategies PL, Final Draft 2002) and the City of Yarra Review of Heritage Overlay Areas (Graeme Butler and Associates, 2007).

4. Additionally, reference is made to the Panel Reports for Stonnington Amendment C172 and

Moreland Amendments C123 and 134, and Planning Practice Note 59: The Role of Mandatory Provisions in Planning Schemes (September 2018).

5. Historical sources cited in this statement include the State Library of Victoria picture collection, liquor licensing files and (former) City of Richmond building application plans (held

at the Public Records Office Victoria).


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3.0 Author Qualifications

6. A statement of my qualifications and experience with respect to urban conservation issues is appended to this report. Note that I have provided expert witness evidence on similar matters before the VCAT, Heritage Council, Planning Panels Victoria and the Building Appeals Board on numerous occasions in the past, and have been retained in such matters variously by municipal councils, developers and objectors to planning proposals.

4.0 Declaration

7. I declare that I have made all the inquiries that I believe are desirable and appropriate, and that no matters of significance which I regard as relevant have to my knowledge been

withheld from the Panel.

Bryce Raworth


Richmond, VIC


5.0 History & Description

8. The Corner Hotel is located on the north side of Swan Street, east of the Richmond Railway Station. The site has a narrow frontage to Swan Street and is bordered by Wangaratta and Stewart Streets to the west and Botherambo Street to the east. The rear of the hotel site is occupied by an at-grade car park. A hotel was originally established at this location c1869, forming part of a relatively simple double-storey Victorian Italianate style building with two adjoining retail premises (refer figure 2 below).

Figure 1 Part of an 1896 MMBW plan showing the Corner Hotel. The current extent of the hotel

site (including the rear carpark) is shaded red. Source: State Library of Victoria.

Figure 2 Undated photograph of the original Corner Hotel and adjoining retail premises. Source:

Yarra Libraries.


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Figure 3 Part of a c1925-40 aerial photograph of Richmond with the original Corner Hotel visible

to the centre. Source: State Library of Victoria.

9. By the 1950s the Corner Hotel had been acquired by the Melbourne Cooperative Brewing Company (a holding company of Carlton and United Breweries). In February 1954 The Herald reported on plans to rebuild the ‘85 year old’ hotel (indicating that the original hotel was built

c1869).1 An application for rebuilding the hotel to a design by Best Overend Architects was

approved by the City of Richmond in February 1954.2 The architect’s plans (dated December 1953) show a single storey wing to the front of the hotel within which was the public bar (now

band room). A bottle shop was located on the Swan Street frontage with a ladies’ lounge and salon bar to its rear. The hotel also had a double-story hipped roof rear wing with first floor accommodation.

10. Construction of the new Corner Hotel was completed by November 1955.3 It was said to be an ‘outstanding success’ and had the advantage of a ‘very long bar’ suited to the era of the

six o’clock swill.4 The rooftop beer garden is not shown on 1953 plans and it presumed to have been added during construction, as it seems visible in a c.1955 photograph. The building application plans include amended drawings for a roof balustrade (dated June 1954).

1 The Herald, 1 February 1954, p.13. 2 PROV VPRS16189/P2, Unit 434. 3 The Argus, 5 November 1955, p.16. 4 GJM Heritage, Heritage Citation – Corner Hotel, pp. 2-3.


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Figure 4 1953 ground floor plan of the new Corner Hotel. Source: Public Records Office Victoria.

Figure 5 1953 first floor plan. Source: Public Records Office Victoria.


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Figure 6 1953 elevations. Source: Public Records Office Victoria.


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11. The hotel does not seem to have been well maintained, such that in 1966 it was described

as having a ‘very dingy appearance’ with interior decoration ‘long overdue’.5

12. Alterations to the hotel were carried out in 1967, including replacement of the large island

bar in the public bar, re-carpeting and reconfiguration of the bottle shop.6 The architect was

again Best Overend. By 1968 the roof top beer garden was not in use.7

13. The Corner Hotel was renovated in the early 1990s and became a popular live music venue. The building underwent further changes in 2016 involving an extensive refurbishment of the

roof top beer garden.8 Other alterations include painting over of face brickwork and a new first floor wall to the Botherambo Street elevation. Most of the ground floor window openings to Stewart and Wangaratta Streets have been infilled while some windows to the Botherambo Street elevation have been enlarged. The bottle shop on the Swan Street frontage has been stripped out with changes to its shopfront.

Figure 7 A c1955 photograph of Swan Street with the recently rebuilt Corner Hotel visible in the

foreground. The rooftop garden is visible in this view. Source: State Library of Victoria.

5 Liquor Licensing File, PROV VPRS 224580 Unit 65. 6 Liquor Licensing File, PROV VPRS 224580 Unit 65. 7 Liquor Licensing File, PROV VPRS 224580 Unit 65. 8 Corner Mag Volume 3 ‘Looking Back on 25 years of the Corner Hotel’, p.57.


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Figure 8 Aerial photograph of the Corner Hotel. The site boundary is marked by a dashed line.

Figure 9 The Corner Hotel viewed from Swan Street.

Car Park

Swan Street Stewart Street

Both

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bo S

treet


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Figure 10 The Botherambo Street elevation.

Figure 11 The Wangaratta Street elevation and rear carpark.


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14. In terms of its context, the Corner Hotel is located at the western end of the Swan Street shopping strip. The streetscape east of the site has a reasonably diverse collection of retail buildings from the Victorian, Edwardian, interwar and post war periods. Building heights range from one to three storeys. Immediately east of the hotel site is a single-storey shop

on the corner of Botherambo Street with a nondescript facade (63-65 Swan Street), a double-storey interwar building (69 Swan Street) and a row of four double-storey Victorian shops (71-77 Swan Street). Further east, all of the Swan Street frontage between Lennox and Carroll Streets is occupied by a modern double-storey commercial building (79-89 Swan Street). The south side of Swan Street has a similarly eclectic built form character and includes the former Dimmey’s store, recently redeveloped with a ten-storey apartment tower to the rear of the restored heritage facade and clocktower.

15. The west side of Botherambo street is predominately characterised by the rear elevations of industrial/warehouse buildings. The east side of the street is lined by modern garages and fences to the rear of dwellings fronting Lennox Street.

16. Wangaratta Street is lined on both sides by former industrial buildings typically dating from post war or late twentieth century periods, apart from the interwar Moderne style factory at 61 Stewart Street. A seven-level office building is currently under construction at 45 Wangaratta Street, close by the Corner Hotel.

Figure 12 Warehouses/factories on the west side of Botherambo Street, north of the Corner Hotel.


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Figure 13 Rear fences and garages on the east side of Botherambo Street, opposite the Corner

Hotel.

Figure 14 Wangaratta Street, north of the Corner Hotel.


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Figure 15 Former industrial buildings west of the Corner Hotel.

Figure 16 The north side of Swan Street, east of the Corner Hotel.


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Figure 17 Modern commercial building on the north side of Swan Street, between Lennox and

Carroll Streets.

Figure 18 The south side of Swan Street looking east from the Corner Hotel.


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6.0 Heritage Listings

17. The Corner Hotel is currently included in the Richmond Hill Precinct (HO332) as an ‘individually significant’ place. As noted, Amendment C191 proposes to remove the Corner Hotel from HO332 and include it in the Swan Street Precinct (HO335) as an individually significant place.

18. The Corner Hotel was not graded in the Richmond Conservation Study (1985) and was not

part of any of the heritage areas identified in that study. The hotel was included in the Richmond Hill Precinct, as identified in the City of Yarra Heritage Review (1998), but it was excluded from the schedule of buildings that were considered to be of individual significance and/or those which ‘made a particular contribution to the precinct’ (refer Appendix B of the

1998 review). The City of Yarra Review of Heritage Precincts (Final Draft 2002) identified the Corner Hotel as place that was ‘significant but not contributory to the significance of the

precinct’. The hotel was subsequently included in Appendix 7 to the City of Yarra Review of Heritage Overlay Areas - individually significant places not from the main development era of the heritage overlay area.

19. The Corner Hotel is not included on the Victorian Heritage Register, nor has it been classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

Figure 19 Current Heritage Overlay showing the Corner Hotel within HO332.

Corner Hotel

HO332


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7.0 Significance

20. The 2007 City of Yarra Review of Heritage Precincts includes the following statement of significance for the Corner Hotel:

What is significant? The Corner Hotel at 57 Swan Street, Richmond was created in the 1950s- 1960s. The place has a fair integrity to its creation date. Fabric from the creation date at the Corner Hotel is locally significant within the City of Yarra, compared to other similar places from a similar era. How is it significant? The Corner Hotel at 57 Swan Street, Richmond is historically and socially significant to the locality of Richmond and the City of Yarra. Why is it significant? The Corner Hotel is significant: `While it is acknowledged that the Corner Hotel has undergone a range of alterations that have compromised the architectural integrity of the building, the hotel is considered to be of historic and social significance. The Corner Hotel has been a popular and important rock (music) venue for a number of decades. Not only has it played host to a wide range of local acts, but also many interstate and international artists, including an impromptu performance by the Rolling Stones. At a time when the popularity of live music venues has been undermined by increasing diversity in entertainment options, including nightclubs, cinemas, home entertainment and gaming venues, many live music venues have folded in recent years. Contrary to this trend, the Corner Hotel continues to flourish and support the live music industry.' (Wight 2001).

21. An updated statement of significance for the hotel has been prepared by GJM Heritage as

part of their Swan Street heritage review:

What is significant? The two-storey hotel known as the Corner Hotel, 57-61 Swan Street, Richmond, built in the 1960s. How is it significant? The Corner Hotel, 57-61 Swan Street, Richmond is of local historical and social significance to the City of Yarra. Why is it significant? The Corner Hotel, Richmond has made a strong contribution to the commercial and social life of Richmond from its establishment in the early 1870s and an important and highly influential contribution to the music industry as an important live music venue since its rebuilding in the mid 1960s and renovation in the 1990s [Criterion A].


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The Corner Hotel, Richmond is of particular social significance for its long-term and continued use as a live music venue. It is a well-established and well-known venue which is considered amongst the most pre-eminent in the City of Yarra and the broader community [Criterion G].

22. GJM Heritage have also prepared a revised statement of significance for the Swan Street Precinct, noting again the Amendment C191 seeks to include the Corner Hotel in this precinct:

What is Significant? Swan Street, Richmond from Botherambo Street to Brighton Street (nos. 63-221 & 90-272), Church Street, south of Swan Street to the railway line (nos. 421-425 & 454-468), Byron Street (nos. 2-8 & 140-160) and Kipling Street (nos. 1, 2, 2A, 3, 5 & 7). […] Swan Street’s long history as a commercial centre has also seen it play a central role in the social life of Richmond. For over 150 years, the street has provided the community with social and recreational opportunities, with the long-term commercial success of the street being predicated upon its attractiveness as a social space. It is this rich social legacy that binds the various phases of the street’s development together, and which continues today to attract new residents and visitors. The main development period of the Swan Street Precinct is from the 1880s to 1920 and the streetscape dates largely from this period. A small number of buildings from both earlier and later periods make a contribution to the precinct. A number of individually significant buildings are contained within the precinct, dating predominantly from the 1880s-1920 period. Buildings are predominantly attached Victorian and Edwardian shops and residences. They are predominantly two-storey with some three/four and single-storey shops interspersed. Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to): • A variety of simple and highly decorative façade parapets, with pitched roofs behind • No front or side setbacks • Face red brick (including polychrome) or rendered walls • Rendered window frames, sills and hoods to upper stories • Rendered ornament and incised decoration to upper stories • Brickwork with corbelled capping courses • Original post-supported street verandahs • Strong horizontal lines formed by parapets, cornices, string courses • Repetitive upper floor fenestration patterns • Consistent two-storey scale with some one and three-storey buildings • Shop fronts with display windows, timber or tiled plinths, and entry recesses • Some red brick storage or stable buildings at the rear or side lane frontage • Corner buildings with secondary façades to side streets or lanes • Splayed corners to buildings at intersections • Corrugated iron and slate roof cladding • Bluestone pitched road paving, crossings, stone kerbs and channels and asphalt

paved footpaths.


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How is Significant? Swan Street, Richmond is of local historical, architectural and aesthetic significance to the City of Yarra. Why is it significant? The Swan Street Precinct is a major ‘High Street’ in the City of Yarra and has functioned continuously as one of Richmond’s two key commercial centres since the 1840s. It retains a substantial collection of intact commercial buildings, predominantly from the Victorian and Edwardian periods, including shops and associated residences, hotels and other commercial and civic buildings. Together these buildings demonstrate the development of this major ‘High Street’, particularly from the 1880s to c1920 when substantial growth in the street occurred, and are illustrative of the enduring role the street has played in the economic and social life of Richmond since the establishment of the suburb [Criterion A]. The highly intact streetscape of the Swan Street Precinct clearly demonstrates the principal characteristics of a major turn of the century ‘High Street’ in the City of Yarra. Typical characteristics, including predominantly two-storey Victorian and Edwardian wall heights, parapeted rendered or red brick facades with repetitive upper floor fenestration, and ground floor shopfronts, are displayed in the original forms, fabric and detailing of many of the buildings. The streetscapes on the south side of Swan Street between the former Richmond Post Office and Church street, on the north side of Swan Street between Carroll and Dando Streets, and the west side of Church Street between Swan Street and the railway line are particularly intact and consistent in their architectural form and expression [Criterion D]. The Swan Street Precinct contains a number of landmark and individually significant buildings which are well-considered and carefully detailed examples of commercial and civic buildings. These include, among others, the former State Savings Bank of Victoria (216 Swan Street); the former Richmond South Post Office (90-92 Swan Street); large retail stores such as Maples Pianos (122-126 Swan Street); Dimmeys (140-48 Swan Street); and M Ball & Co (236-240 Swan Street), as well as hotels such as the Swan Hotel (425 Church Street). The clock tower and ball of the Dimmeys building is of particular prominence and is a local landmark. Variations in façade detailing throughout the precinct, including parapet ornamentation, balustrading and pediments, incised and applied decoration and polychromatic brickwork, make an aesthetic contribution to the overall character of the precinct [Criterion E].

8.0 Analysis

23. Amendment C191 to the Yarra Planning Scheme seeks to apply built form controls to the Swan Street Major Activity Centre (within which can be found the Corner Hotel). The Activity Centre is divided into four precincts. The Corner Hotel is located in Precinct 2 – Swan Street Retail Centre. As originally exhibited, all four precincts were to be subject to a Design Development Overlay (Schedule 17). Council have resolved to adopt revised Amendment C191 documentation with separate DDO schedules for each precinct. DDO26 would apply

to the Precinct 2.


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24. Amendment C191 also proposes to remove the Corner Hotel from the Richmond Hill Precinct (HO332) and include it as an individually significant building within the Swan Street Precinct (HO335).

25. In respect to the Corner Hotel, the Amendment gives rise to two main heritage issues, these

being (a) the grading of the hotel as an individually significant place and (b) the appropriateness of the built form controls proposed for the hotel site. These issues are discussed separately below.

Significance of the Corner Hotel 26. Notwithstanding that the Corner Hotel already has an individually significant grading within

the Richmond Hill Precinct, Amendment C191 provides the opportunity to re-interrogate the significance of the place. For the reasons set out below, the hotel does not warrant an

individually significant grading.

27. The GJM citation for the Corner Hotel quotes at length a (mainly anecdotal) history of the hotel that was originally published in The Age newspaper. It refers to music at the Corner Hotel beginning in the 1940s with day-time jazz performances.

28. The GJM statement of significance for the Corner Hotel also states that the hotel made a ‘highly influential contribution to the music industry as an important live music venue since its

rebuilding in the mid 1960s and renovation in the 1990s’.

29. This is incorrect in that the rebuilding of the Corner Hotel occurred in 1955. Beyond this, GJM do not provide any further information to substantiate the claim that the hotel was an influential or important music venue in the period after its rebuilding. The 1953 floor plans do not seem to make any provision for live music performances with most of the hotel interior

dedicated to a large public bar - this being the era of the six o’clock swill when hotels were set up to cater for a short period heavy drinking from 5 to 6 pm. One source indicates the

Corner Hotel was not used as a live music venue until 1983.9

30. The Corner Hotel’s reputation as a live music venue and the extent to which this is valued by some members of the community is mainly associated with events that took place after the

hotel’s mid-1990s renovation. According to the history quoted in the GJM citation, the Corner Hotel was ‘near derelict’ by 1993. Prior to this the hotel is described as having ‘only briefly’ attained wider recognition in 1988 as the venue for impromptu performances by Mick Jagger and former Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour. The transformation of the Corner Hotel

into a well-regarded live music venue occurred after 1995.

9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_Hotel


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31. As such, the importance of the hotel in respect to supporting local musicians and hosting prominent overseas acts can be considered a relatively recent cultural phenomenon. The fact that the hotel was not identified in municipal heritage studies prior to the 2000s is indicative of this.

32. Moreover, only historical and social significance have been identified with the Corner Hotel. I concur with the GJM assessment insofar as the hotel has little inherent architectural value. The hotel exterior adopts a utilitarian and somewhat ad-hoc appearance. The hotel’s previously unknown association with noted architect Best Overend does not lend the place additional significance. The Corner Hotel is not demonstrative of Overend’s role as a pioneering modernist architect in the interwar period and it can only be considered a minor and unimportant work within his oeuvre.

33. Further to issues of significance, the events for which the hotel is most valued – ie live music performances – take place in the (much altered) interior. No internal alteration controls are proposed. Nor would a heritage overlay control mandate the use to which the building is

put. That is to say, the Corner Hotel could cease to be a live music venue even if it were to be included in the Swan Street Precinct as an individually significant place.

34. Concerns about the viability of live music venues in inner suburban Melbourne are not a heritage consideration, especially when the Heritage Overlay does not regulate the use of the live music venues.

35. Comparisons can be made with other places in Melbourne with a reputation for supporting live music. The most iconic of these was the Crystal Ballroom, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. The Crystal Ballroom is generally considered to have been the epicentre of Melbourne’s underground music scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s and featured bands such as The

Boys Next Door. The Crystal Ballroom was housed in the George Hotel, Fitzroy Street (VHR H706), a building that far exceeds the Corner Hotel in terms of architectural significance, in addition to being a more historically important music venue.

36. Within the City of Yarra, the Punters Club is widely regarded to have been one of Melbourne’s premier live music venues and is credited with helping launch the careers of some of the leading lights of the Australian indie music scene, including You Am I, Frente, Spiderbait and

Magic Dirt.10 The Punters Club operated from a Victorian era hotel in Brunswick Street Fitzroy from 1987 to 2002. I note that this hotel is graded contributory within the Brunswick Street Precinct (HO311), but this grading is presumably a reflection of the building’s contribution to the heritage character of the streetscape.

10 https://www.beat.com.au/the-punters-club-reunion/


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37. Another important live music venue in the City of Yarra was the former Great Britain Hotel, 447 Church Street, Richmond. It has been described as the centre of the Melbourne musical

universe in 1990s.11 The building is an altered Victorian era corner hotel with no heritage overlay controls.

38. The Tote (former Ivanhoe Hotel), Johnston Street, Collingwood has been a popular venue for alternative/independent music since the 1980s. It is graded individually significant in the Johnston Street Precinct (HO324) but differs from the Corner Hotel in that it has broader historical and architectural value beyond the association with live music. A hotel has existing on the site of The Tote since the 1850s and the present building was erected in 1876 (albeit with some interwar modifications to the façade).

39. There is also the example of the Old Greek (former National) Theatre, 171-177 Bridge Road, Richmond, which was demolished in recent years and replaced with a multi-storey mixed-use development under a permit issued at the direction of the VCAT (VCAT Ref. P776/2015). The Old Greek Theatre was identified as an individually significant place within the Bridge Road Precinct (HO310).

40. There was strong community opposition to the demolition of the theatre on the basis that it was socially important, to the Greek community for the screening Geek language films from the 1960s to the mid 1980s, and also as a popular live music venue from 1983 to 1992, hosting renowned local and overseas artists including Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, TISM, The

Triffids, Paul Kelly, Hunters and Collectors and Died Pretty.

41. Peter Lovell provided expert witness statement on behalf of the permit applicant for redevelopment of the Old Greek. The VCAT agreed with Mr Lovell’s position that full demolition of the Old Greek was acceptable:

22. Mr Lovell acknowledged the intangible values (the sentiment and attachment) associated with the various uses of the building over time, but did not see that equating to its being ‘a landmark community site’. He argued that the physical fabric no longer provides any understanding of the early cinema use, or the subsequent use by the Greek community. Mr Lovell argued that the facade has been so altered (particularly by major alterations in 1938) that its retention would serve no purpose.

23. There are no heritage controls over the inside of the theatre building and it no longer serves a public use. Its significance does not relate to aesthetic or architectural values. We consider that its historic and social significance would be adequately preserved by the preparation of a photographic record and the plaque on the facade reinstated on the new facade (both of which are required by the Council’s draft conditions), as well as an interpretive panel, or other means, to recognise the social history.

11 Douglas Galbraith, Nine Parts Water, One Part Sand: Kim Salmon and the Formula for Grunge.


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42. The Tribunal’s comments on the Old Greek Theatre are pertinent to the Corner Hotel in that it also has no aesthetic or architectural values. The intangible values associated with the use of the Corner Hotel as a live music venue do not equate to a landmark heritage site. Associations with past performances by notable musicians are not demonstrated in the

external fabric of the Corner Hotel to any meaningful extent, and could be ably recognised by archival recording and interpretation in the event that the hotel site were to be developed in the future.

Figure 20 (left) Former Punters Club, 376 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Figure 21 (right) The Old Greek Theatre (now demolished), 171-177 Bridge Road, Richmond.

43. It is appropriate that the Corner Hotel be included in the Swan Street Precinct, as proposed by Amendment C191, but only because the hotel forms a logical endpoint to the precinct. Being a post war structure, the hotel falls outside of the precinct’s identified period of significance – ie the 1880s to the 1920s. While it has been a well-regarded music venue and part of the social fabric of Swan Street, the hotel itself is not an important element in terms

of defining the heritage character of the streetscape.

44. Having regard for the above, it would be appropriate to apply a non-contributory grading to the Corner Hotel within the Swan Street Precinct. This mirrors the existing situation whereby the City of Yarra Review of Heritage Precincts described the hotel as being non-contributory to the Richmond Hill Precinct (refer section 6.0 of this statement).

45. Accepting that the Corner Hotel can be included in the Swan Street Precinct, the hotel’s rear car park should be excised from the Heritage Overlay. The carpark has no heritage value

and I am instructed that it is on a separate title. As currently proposed under Amendment C191, the heritage overlay curtilage to the Corner Hotel would be much deeper than most of the properties in HO335 on the north side of Swan Street. Removal of the carpark from the Heritage Overlay would be more consistent with the existing heritage overlay boundary. As such, that adjustment to the proposed boundary of HO335 as shown in figure 21 below would be a sensible approach to the existing conditions.


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Figure 22 Part of the heritage overlay map for the Swan Street Precinct showing the Corner Hotel

carpark removed from proposed HO boundary.

Proposed Built Form Controls

46. A 28 metre mandatory maximum building height would apply to the Corner Hotel site. The revised DDO as adopted by Council also sets out requirements for street wall heights, street wall setbacks and upper level setbacks, as shown in the following tracked changes version:

Swan Street and Stewart street (Interface Reference B):

Design Element Mandatory Requirements Preferred Requirements

Street wall height 11m maximum. or the parapet height of the adjoining individually significant or contributory building if higher than 11m. 8m minimum.

Match the parapet height of the adjoining heritage building, for a minimum length of 6m from the heritage building.

Street wall setback

0m.

Upper level setback

65m minimum setback. For all development in a heritage overlay, any part of the building above the heritage street wall should be designed to ensure that it occupies no more than one third of the vertical angle defined by the whole building in the view from a sight line of 1.7 metres (on the opposite side of the street).

Carpark

Addition to HO335 proposed by Amendment C191

Corner Hotel

Recommended Heritage Overlay boundary to the Corner Hotel


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Wangaratta and Botherambo Streets (Interface Reference F):


Street wall height 11m maximum.

Street wall setback

0m

Upper level setback

65m minimum for land affected by HO335 and individually significant buildings. 3m minimum elsewhere.

North boundary (Interface Reference H):


Street wall height N/A

Street wall setback

0m minimum unless setback is identified on the Plan 24

Upper level setback

0m

47. In my opinion, the height and setback requirements for the Corner Hotel should be discretionary rather than mandatory. The application of mandatory controls in this instance can be seen to be contrary to the intent of Planning Practice Note 59: The Role of Mandatory

Provisions in Planning Schemes (September 2018):

A performance-based planning scheme is able to accommodate variation, innovation, unforeseen uses and development or circumstances peculiar to a particular application to produce results beneficial to the community. Mandatory provisions in the VPP are the exception. The VPP process is primarily based on the principle that there should be discretion for most developments and that applications are to be tested against objectives and performance outcomes rather than merely prescriptive mandatory requirements. Nevertheless, there will be circumstances where a mandatory provision will provide certainty and ensure a preferable and efficient outcome. Although these circumstances cannot be common practice, they may include areas of high heritage value, strong and consistent character themes, or sensitive environmental locations such as along the coast. A balance must be struck between the benefits of a mandatory provision in the achievement of an objective against any resulting loss of opportunity for flexibility in achieving the objective.


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48. The Corner Hotel itself has no inherent architectural significance such that there is no particular concern that cultural heritage value of the place would be threatened by discretionary setbacks and heights. The impacts on the broader Swan Street heritage overlay are a more important consideration.

49. With reference to the Practice Note’s criteria for mandatory controls, the environs of the Corner Hotel do not exhibit a strong and consistent character. This is a mixed environment with the railway embankment and industrial buildings west and north of the hotel contributing to a ‘hard edge’ urban character.

50. The hotel marks the western end of the Swan street precinct and it is physically separated from sites to the east by Botherambo Street. The closest building, at 63-65 Swan Street, is non-contributory. A little further to the east, the modern double-storey non-contributory building at 79-89 Swan Street has a wide frontage extending from Lennox Street to Carroll Street. This section of Swan Street also has street wall heights varying from one to two to three storeys. Swan Street is of sufficient integrity to warrant a heritage overlay but it is not

a highly intact heritage environment.

51. In this context, the hotel site could reasonably accommodate development above the mandatory 28 metre height. The site is no more sensitive than rear parts of the Swan Street Activity Centre where discretionary 34 metre heights are proposed. It is also the case that Botherambo Street creates a visual break that would help to mitigate changes in scale that might result from taller development on the hotel site relative to development that might occur on other parts of Swan Street to the east of the hotel.

52. The circumstances of the Corner Hotel site are such that discretionary rather than mandatory height limits could be implemented.

53. I note that discretionary controls have been supported by a number of planning panels, including Stonnington Amendment C172 (Chapel Street Activity Centre) and Moreland C143 (Sydney Road Activity Centre).

54. I gave evidence to the C172 Panel in support of mandatory height controls for the sensitive heritage environments found at the Windsor end of Chapel Street and at Greville Street. It was my view that mandatory height controls were warranted on account of the low scale and significant, consistent heritage character of these heritage streetscapes. Notwithstanding that mandatory height controls were ultimately implemented under C172 with the support of the Minister of Planning), the C172 Panel concluded that the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test

for mandatory controls was not meet:

… The Panel concludes that the heritage values of each area can be appropriately protected, development can be managed and innovative solutions can be facilitated through discretionary building height provisions.


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The Panel reached this conclusion while taking into account that any proposal that exceeds the discretionary building height will require a rigorous assessment because there are considerably more unknown circumstances beyond that height. The ability for a proposal to meet relevant objectives and policies beyond the discretionary building height is also likely to be affected.

55. In respect to Moreland Amendment C134, the Panel were generally not supportive of mandatory controls in an Activity Centre which has been designed to absorb substantial growth and where they do not meet the threshold requirements for the use of mandatory controls as noted in Planning Practice Note 59.

56. Mandatory controls were only supported by the Moreland C134 Panel for street wall heights on the basis that the street wall is was an important contributory feature of the character and heritage significance of Sydney Road. Similarly, the Panel for Moreland Amendment C123 only supported mandatory controls in relation to the podium/street wall in locations with a well-defined street wall or where urban design objectives require adherence to a particular height.

57. The exhibited DDO had sought to apply interface Ref I to the north carpark boundary – ie 8m maximum on a common boundary with a property in a residential zone and a staggered envelope with upper level. Noting the adjoining sites are not in a residential zone, it is appropriate from a heritage perspective that the amended, preferred DDO does not prescribe

side/rear wall heights or upper level setbacks for the north carpark boundary. Noting that the carpark at the rear of the Corner Hotel is set well back from Swan Street and has no fabric of heritage value, with a series of non-contributory industrial buildings to the north, development on this part of the site is a less concern with regard to impacts on the Swan Street Precinct.

58. I also consider it appropriate that the proposed DDO has preferred rather than mandatory setbacks for upper levels to the Botherambo Street and Wangaratta Street interfaces. This notwithstanding, there is scope for upper level setbacks less than the preferred 6 metres, particularly on the Wangaratta Street interface given that it is non-contiguous with the Swan

Street heritage precinct. Moreover, the purposes of the preferred 6 metre setback is to moderate impacts of new development on heritage facades – but in this case the hotel façade is of no identified heritage value. Given that Wangaratta Street addresses a hard-edged industrial environment, the proposed DDO could be amended to allow for 0m upper level setbacks for this interface. The preferred minimum upper level setbacks for the Botherambo Street interface could be 3 metres, but this would mainly be an urban design consideration regarding impacts on the amenity of residential properties on the east side of the street.


Richmond, VIC


59. Having regard for this, the preferred setback requirements for upper levels in the DDO (Interface Reference F) should remove the reference to HO335. If it is accepted that the site is non-contributory, then this would suggest a maximum side setback to either side on the subject site of 3m. This advice is of course in relation to heritage considerations only, and

does not take into account broader planning and urban design considerations.

9.0 Conclusion

60. The inclusion of the Corner Hotel in the Swan Street Precinct is appropriate, but only as a

non-contributory place. The hotel has no architectural or aesthetic significance and the social value that it has to certain members of the community as a live music venue is of relatively recent origin and is not locally significant. As such the hotel does not warrant an individually significant grading.

61. Nor can the Corner Hotel be considered contributory to the Swan Street Precinct. The hotel was built well after the precinct’s identified period of significance and it does not contribute to the valued streetscape character.

62. The carpark to the rear of the Corner Hotel should be excised from the Heritage Overlay. The carpark is of no heritage value and forms part of mixed industrial streetscape undergoing

further change with a new multi-storey office development under construction.

63. Having regard for the limited heritage value inherent in the built fabric of the Corner Hotel, and also the mixed character of the surrounding retail and industrial streetscapes, the built controls proposed for the site under Amendment C191 should be discretionary rather than mandatory.


Richmond, VIC


B R Y C E R A W O R T H P T Y L T D C O N S E R V A T I O N • H E R I T A G E C O N S E R V A T I O N C O N S U L T A N T S A R C H I T E C T U R A L H I S T O R I A N S B R Y C E R A W O R T H M . A R C H . , B . A . ( H O N S ) , I C C R O M ( A R C H ) Bryce Raworth has worked with issues relating to heritage and conservation since the mid-1980s, and has specialised in this area since establishing his own consultant practice in 1991. Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd, Conservation • Heritage, provides a range of heritage services, including the assessment of the significance of particular sites, preparation of conservation analyses and management plans, design and/or restoration advice for interventions into significant buildings, and detailed advice regarding the resolution of technical problems relating to deteriorating or damaged building fabric. From 2004-2011 Raworth was a member of the Official Establishments Trust, which advises on the conservation and improvement of Admiralty House and Kirribilli House in Sydney and Government House and The Lodge in Canberra. As a member of the former Historic Buildings Council in Victoria, sitting on the Council's permit, planning and community relations committees, Raworth has been involved with the registration and permit processes for many registered historic buildings. In 1996 he was appointed an alternate member of the new Heritage Council, the successor the Historic Buildings Council, and in 1998 was made a full member. At present he provides regular advice to architects and private owners on technical, architectural and planning issues relative to the conservation and adaptation of historic buildings, and is occasionally called upon to provide expert advice before the VCAT. He is currently the conservation consultant for the cities of Kingston, Frankston and Stonnington. With respect to historic precincts, the company has provided detailed advice towards the resolution of heritage issues along the Upfield railway line. The company is currently contributing to redevelopment plans for the former Coburg Prisons Complex (comprising Pentridge Prison and the Metropolitan Prison) and the former Albion Explosives Factory, Maribyrnong. In 1993 Bryce Raworth led a consultant team which reviewed the City of Melbourne's conservation data and controls for the CBD, and in 1997 Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd revised the former City of South Melbourne Conservation Study with respect to the area within the present City of Melbourne. The firm is currently completing documentation for significant heritage places and areas in the City of Stonnington. In recent years Bryce Raworth Pty Ltd has also provided documentation and advice during construction on the restoration of a number of key registered and heritage overlay buildings, including the Ebenezer Mission church and outbuildings, Antwerp; the former MMTB Building, Bourke Street West, Melbourne; the former Martin & Pleasance Building, 178 Collins Street, Melbourne; the former Uniting Church, Howe Crescent, South Melbourne; Heide I & II, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Bulleen; Melbourne Grammar School, South Yarra; various guard towers and other buildings, Pentridge Prison, Coburg; and Coriyule Homestead, Curlewis.


Richmond, VIC


BRYCE RAWORTH Professional Status: Conservation Consultant and Architectural Historian Current Positions: Conservation consultant to the cities of Kingston, Frankston and

Stonnington Organisation Membership: Australian Institute of Architects Professional Experience: independent practice as conservation consultant and architectural historian

from January 1991 (ongoing). Services include: identification and assessment of the significance of sites and complexes; preparation of guidelines regarding the safeguarding of significant sites; provision of technical, design and planning advice to architects, owners and government on issues relating to the conservation of sites of cultural significance; expert witness advice on conservation issues before the VCAT

member, Historic Buildings Council (architectural historian's chair) 1993-

1996; member, Heritage Council (architect’s chair) 1998-2002 conservation consultant to the cities of Brighton, Northcote and

Sandringham (1989 only), Essendon, Hawthorn and Kew (1989-1994), Melbourne (1992-2009) and Prahran (1992-1994)

established the Metropolitan Heritage Advisory Service on behalf of the

Ministry for Planning & Environment - this service was offered to the cities of Brighton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Kew, Northcote and Sandringham in 1989-90

Studies: Certificate of Architectural Conservation, ICCROM (International Centre for

the Study of the Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property at Rome), 1994

Master of Architecture by thesis, University of Melbourne, 1993 (thesis: A

Question of Style: Domestic Architecture in Melbourne, 1919-1942) B. Architecture (First Class Honours), University of Melbourne, 1986 B. Arts (Second Class Honours, Division A), University of Melbourne, 1986 Committee Membership: Twentieth Century Buildings Committee, National Trust of Australia

(Victoria), 1990-1994 (Chairman 1992-1993) RAIA Jury, Conservation Category, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2001 Awards (Chairman 1996 & 1998) Awarded: Henry and Rachel Ackman Travelling Scholarship in Architecture, 1987-88 JG Knight Award, conservation of Heide 1, Royal Australian Institute of

Architects, Victorian Chapter, 2003 Lachlan Macquarie Award for heritage (commendation), conservation of

Heide 1, Royal Australian Institute of Architects National Award program, 2003

Award for Heritage Architecture, conservation of Coriyule Homestead,

Australian Institute of Architects, Victorian Chapter, 2015 National Award for Heritage, conservation of Coriyule Homestead, Australian

Institute of Architects, 2015

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