Queen Victoria Market
Location: Melbourne 

Statement regarding
Melbourne City Council, Future Melbourne Planning Committee, 3 April 2018
Report to the Future Melbourne Planning Committee Agenda item 6.2
Ministerial Referral: TPMR-2018-2

The RHSV notes that Council officers recommended approval of this revision of the original permit for the glasshouse or pavilion intended as a temporary structure during the planned excavation works.

The RHSV submits that in the light of Heritage Victoria’s refusal to grant a permit for the works as planned the Future Melbourne Planning Committee should defer consideration of this revision pending Council’s revision of its plans for the Market.

The Heritage Victoria decision in no wise precludes structural renovation. It precludes the planned excavation and the construction of massive modern intrusions. Dismantling and reconstruction where necessary for conservation are not at issue.

The Council will therefore have to develop an alternative plan. It is unlikely to involve a massive temporary facility since renovation can now progress by stages. Therefore the pavilion will not be necessary and further consideration would be irrelevant.

The RHSV notes further the removal of seven major London plane trees which are a major feature at the heart of the market. These play a major role in the character of the market as well as in providing shade. The RHSV objects strenuously to proposals for their removal.

The Committee can play an important role in bringing Council to revise its plans and progress this important issue positively by deferring Planning Permit Application: TP-2016-1124/A.

(Professor) Charles Sowerwine,
Chair, Heritage Committee,
Royal Historical Society of Victoria.