Melbourne City Council rejects development plans for former Cancer Council site
The dilapidated former Cancer Council building in Carlton. Image credit: The Age
A planning application for an apartment tower on the corner of Rathdowne and Victoria Streets in Carlton has been denied by Melbourne City Council.
The site, which is home to the former offices of the Cancer Council, has fallen into disrepair following its purchase by Chinese billionaire Wang Hua in 2013. Wang Hua’s company, Royal Garden Manor Pty Ltd, submitted the planning application.
Plans for the $80-million, 13-storey mixed-use tower included 77 apartments and seven townhomes. Private amenities detailed in the application included a pool, gym, meeting room, library, and two open space terrace areas.
The plans were rejected by Melbourne Council on the basis that the building’s height was deemed “excessive” and would have an unreasonable impact on Carlton’s character. The council received 63 objections to the application.
Questions now remain over what will happen to the site, which has been labelled a Melbourne ‘eyesore.’ It has already been the subject of a clean-up notice, which Melbourne City Council issued in 2017 after reports the building was teeming with rats and human waste from squatters.