By Matthew Fagan

I am very concerned about the Middle Park Hotel’s plans to develop a 200 patron, open-air music lounge on the roof of the hotel and only a few residents have been notified of the planning application.  Middle Park Hotel is an impressive, large Victorian hotel building on the corner of Canterbury Road and Armstrong Street. Built in 1889, it features wrought-iron lacework and heritage features. 

After wading through the 300-page planning application I discovered the application was clearly far more than just renovation because the plans included:

1.  200 patron open air music lounge with DJ on top of the 3-storey hotel until 1am and some nights 3am.
2.  100 permanent places on the street for the same period.
3.  Permanently taking over the car and bicycle parking.
4.  Major changes to the Hotel building which would be very visible from the street.
5.  Likely hundreds more cars in the area licensed to 660 people from 360. 
6.  Potential to operate every night.

I am concerned that the applicant has only contacted a limited group of people thought to be most affected by the noise as stated in the application. This group seems not include those living above the shops and buildings, a new block of apartments behind the TAB.

The noise from the roof is expected to be as loud as a jackhammer and will be heard far beyond the perimeter of the Hotel, let alone the additional 100 people outside on Armstrong Street. The new 4th floor will become a megaphone, creating noise pollution which will disrupt residents across Middle Park.

While the submitted acoustic plan based on computer modelling says it is all acceptable, there are several questionable qualifications. For example, drums and amplification are not to be used even with an acoustic guitar.   How does an acoustic guitar entertain 200 people without amplification?

It specifies that the only sound system to be used is the Hotel amplifier which “should only be played on the house sound system incorporating the stated music noise limiter”. The volume controls must be in a locked box.  

So to whom do we complain when these restrictions are ignored as we all suspect they will be?  Can we believe that a DJ will play music at 82db?  Try 110db on a rooftop 20 metres above street level.

More worrying is the assumption that the application seeking to almost double the patronage of the only hotel in the area from 360 to 660 outside until 3 am for Grand Prix, Race Days and 1am other days is not going to bother anyone but those immediately adjacent to the hotel.

We want a vibrant shopping area and neighbourhood, but is 3am really necessary in a suburban area?  Will an additional 300+ cars destroy the other casual dining restaurants and street parking for residents for a large radius?

I believe this application affects everyone in Middle Park and therefore that the notice of application should have been more widely distributed. 

Poor Access to Information
Many residents have struggled to access information about the planning application. My neighbour Denis could not easily find the application.  Another neighbour Paul was so concerned on Friday he drove to the Council chambers but could get no information. Others just gave up.

The QR code was hardly helpful for looking at 300+ pages on your phone.  Even with these codes you had to sort through all the applications to find the right one and then read the 11 attachments of up to 38 pages. I think the whole system of giving access needs to be revisited.  So many people had not realised what was going on and like me initially, gave up because it was too hard.

Only when I received the letter box drop from a local resident, Gerry, on the night of the 17 March 2022 did I realise the significance of the application so in the morning I typed in the entire hyperlink, located the application, and downloaded all 11 attachments.

For the 20 people I spoke to, the general impression was that this was a 'snow job', where getting the key information was deliberately made far too difficult.

Fundamentally, when the only hotel in Middle Park applies to double the number of patrons, put half of them outside the pub in the street and on the roof and allow drinking until 1am, we have a concern that everyone in the area should have been consulted because everyone will be affected.   Not just the few nominated by the applicant.

News of this proposed massive development is now rolling through the suburb, but this needs to be fought out in Council rather than at VCAT and in hindsight.

Parking, waste, noise, crowds, transport, drunks, violence, heritage and value to the community need to be discussed widely.  Our collective experience with all these and the Pub is not good, even very recently. Complaints fall on deaf ears and the violence has already started.  The police should be able to comment as well on the likelihood of trouble because they will be the ones who have to respond.

I believe this development is not in any way in the interest of the residents of Lake Ward. To double patronage, 300 patrons outside and on the roof to create a huge live music venue is only in the interest of the owners, not the whole community.   Will the new Middle Park Hotel attract a dangerous crowd and increase crime in our area?

We want the hotel to thrive as the only hotel in Middle Park and be a great community asset at a time when hotels are increasingly not commercially viable and many have been converted into apartments.   But not like this.

I am grateful to Gerry whose letter drop alerted us to the development plans. She told us much more than the council did.

That is fundamentally wrong.

Lodging an Objection

I found viewing the planning permit and lodging an objection to the was incredibly, absurdly complex. Self defeating really. I was advised to read the instructions:

https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/media/2aycur0c/copp_sec-57-objection-to-grant-a-planning-permit_1020_final.pdf

The whole process of informing people by letter drop is so 19th century, you can only suggest the council is in a time warp or no one wants objections.  I accept that too many objections make planner’s lives harder.

Might I suggest that it would be reasonable to collect the email addresses of the occupiers of each property and email them.  After all who sends mail today?  And who checks the letter box every day?

To view the application I was instructed to type in

https://copp.t1cloud.com/T1Default/CiAnywhere/Web/COPP/Public/LogOn/PRONLINESERVICE

Select “Applications on Notification” and Search applications for PDPL/01390/2021

Then VIEW

Then LODGE A SUBMISSION (top left of the page)

Then fill it out, add any documents and SUBMIT.

or

a QR code and view the application?   How useless is that for viewing a 300 page application in 11 parts?

or

download from the Council’s website and send a written objection to Statutory Planning at the City of Port Phillip, Private Bag 3, PO St. Kilda 3812.

Council will formally acknowledge your objection in writing.

Talk about archaic!

Every other government department collects email addresses.  And the council already has all the mapping tools and all the addresses and names.  Perhaps the City of Port Phillip could catch up?    But that would make it too easy?

And I was surprised that notification of the planning application was limited to only a few neighbours by letter.