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January 7, 2026 \u2014 7:53pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n A rooming house has permission to go ahead in an inner-Melbourne area well known for drug-related issues, despite Yarra Council\u2019s refusal to issue a permit due to fears about the behaviour of potential tenants.<\/p>\n In a VCAT ruling released on Tuesday, tribunal member Christopher Harty directed that a permit be issued for the rooming house in the Victorian-era State Savings Bank building on the corner of Victoria and Hoddle streets in Abbotsford.<\/p>\n The ruling cut the proposed capacity from 17 rooms for 17 residents to 13 single rooms, to address \u201cpoor amenity\u201d concerns.<\/p>\n It follows a council showdown last June<\/a> during which five independent councillors broke ranks with their own planning officers \u2014who recommended approval\u2014 and their mayor to block the project in the 1884 Italianate palazzo-style building, which has been derelict for years and targeted by vandals and squatters.<\/p>\n At the time, Labor Deputy Mayor Sarah McKenzie slammed her colleagues, calling the decision \u201cabout prejudice and NIMBYism\u201d in a housing crisis.<\/p>\n Local objectors and the five councillors argued the site was inappropriate due to its proximity to the North Richmond Medically Supervised Injecting Room. They expressed concerns that the facility would attract vulnerable people and contribute to a decline in social behaviour in the already troubled Victoria Street area.<\/p>\n However, Harty found these concerns were not relevant planning considerations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe status of potential residents in the rooming house and their behaviour and actions are not relevant planning matters and are not possible to be controlled by the planning system,\u201d he wrote in his decision.<\/p>\n Local objector Christine Maynard, who was represented in the tribunal, dismissed this, saying the VCAT member didn\u2019t appreciate the reality of life in the area.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you really think Victoria Street needs a rooming house for junkies and homeless people?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Related Article The proposal had the backing of advocates including Fiona Patten, a former state MP and chair of the state\u2019s 2021 inquiry into homelessness, and local Judy Ryan, secretary of Victoria Street Drug Solutions, who spearheaded the push for the nearby safe injecting room.<\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019m] delighted with the outcome,\u201d Ryan said, adding a rooming house \u201ccomplements Yarra\u2019s vision for housing and is sorely needed in our community\u201d.<\/p>\n Despite the win, the project\u2019s future remains uncertain. While the developer\u2019s representative, architect John Chow, welcomed the ruling going his way, he said the tribunal\u2019s 13-resident limit was too onerous.<\/p>\n \u201cThirteen rooms is ridiculous,\u201d Chow said. \u201cThe owner is bleeding [money] … It\u2019s becoming unviable for him to continue housing because of all the [land] taxes\u201d. He suggested the owners \u2013 one of whom resides in Singapore \u2013 might now sell the site with its new permit or seek a higher-density commercial redevelopment.<\/p>\n Maynard also dismissed the result as a dead end, describing the building as a \u201cdump\u201d that would cost more than $1 million to bring up to safety standards.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not really concerned about the permit, to be completely honest,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be too much money.\u201d<\/p>\n The developer has two years to commence the project before the permit expires.<\/p>\n If the rooming house does go ahead, the tribunal has imposed strict conditions: several small bedrooms must be merged to meet floor-area standards and secure natural light, and an outdoor car parking space must be converted into a communal outdoor area for residents. As well as this, there must be an on-site manager at all times with a 24-hour contact number displayed on the front door for neighbours to register complaints.<\/p>\n During the council vote last June, independent councillors Evangeline Aston, Andrew Davies, Kenneth Gomez, Sharon Harrison and Meca Ho all voted against the proposal, while Mayor Stephen Jolly, McKenzie and Greens councillor Sophie Wade voted in favour.<\/p>\n In a rare move, Jolly broke with \u201cYarra For All\u201d independent colleagues,<\/a> who make up a dominant block of five on the council, and foreshadowed the permit was likely to receive approval at VCAT given the council\u2019s planning officers had deemed the project technically allowed.<\/p>\n A Yarra City Council spokesperson said the council respected the decision of the tribunal. The spokesperson did not reveal the cost to ratepayers for legal counsel to appear at VCAT, saying only that it fell within the council\u2019s legal budget.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. <\/b>Sign up here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ea7948770cec04a3ae7e017870de9de55e4258ad.jpeg\")
The former State Savings Bank building at 231 Victoria Street \u2013 the site of the proposed rooming house.Paul Jeffers<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/e24579a82cd901fdb1bb8736c75eee0206ff375c.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Local](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/17e6f5c0d9cecfc4f2222fe948382feb4b7a79e6.jpeg\")
Local Richmond resident Judy Ryan (left) and ex-MP Fiona Patten inspect the former bank building.Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n![\"Rachael](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767755774_621_75394e027331e8bb17d80868b6ff7141ecb01879.png\")
Rachael Dexter<\/a> is a journalist in the City team at The Age. Contact her at rachael.dexter@theage.com.au, rachaeldexter@protonmail.com, or via Signal at @rachaeldexter.58Connect via Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.Most Viewed in PoliticsFrom our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 7, 2026 \u2014 7:53pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":499500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-499499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115855235945698585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}