Lord Mayor pushes crackdown on Melbourne’s derelict buildings

The City of Melbourne will explore tougher measures to tackle vacant and dilapidated buildings, with Lord Mayor Nick Reece declaring “enough is enough” ahead of a September 2 Future Melbourne Committee meeting.

Cr Reece moved a motion, seconded by Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell, calling for a comprehensive review of how the council deals with premises that are vacant, unsafe or unsightly.

The push follows years of community frustration at sites such as the former Cancer Council building on Rathdowne St in Carlton, which has sat boarded up, vandalised and repeatedly breached by squatters since its sale to private interests more than a decade ago.

“The former Cancer Council building is one of the great eyesores of the city,” Cr Reece told Inner City News in July. “It’s unacceptable that some buildings in our city have fallen into such disrepair they pose a risk to the community.”

The Lord Mayor’s motion requests management to:

• assess the effectiveness of current provisions in the Activities Local Law 2024 (Part 13: Dilapidated, Dangerous and Unsightly Premises), including the adequacy of penalties and the city’s ability to enforce compliance;
• review approaches to graffiti management, including rapid removal and opportunities for murals and street art;
• consider stronger use of planning and building enforcement powers, including demolition orders and potential conversion of derelict sites into interim green space;
• evaluate the city’s ability to recover costs for services rendered; and
• identify any other measures to address problem properties.

The motion also directs management to consider updating definitions of what constitutes a “vacant, dilapidated, unsafe or unsightly” property, and to report back to councillors by November 30, 2025, with proposed next steps toward a comprehensive policy.

As part of its 2025-26 budget, the City of Melbourne is already exploring the use of differential rates, levies and charges under the City of Melbourne Act 2001 and Local Government Act 2020 to encourage owners to act on neglected properties.

The Rathdowne St site, opposite the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building, has become the most high-profile example of inaction.

Development proposals have repeatedly failed at both council and VCAT, leaving the property in limbo and residents calling for stronger intervention, including emergency orders under the Building Act. The site is now back on the open market.

Cr Reece pointed to other “success stories” where derelict sites have been turned around, such as the Job Warehouse on Bourke St and the Duke of Kent Hotel on La Trobe St.

“We will explore stronger measures –whether that’s higher rates, special charges or other tools – to tackle the city’s worst derelict sites,” he said. •