Stairs stump office access
COMMERCIAL property owners next door to the doomed Belchers Corner building will be left without access to their offices unless a select group of members foots the bill for a new set of stairs.
Hopetoun Chambers, which is on Ryrie St, looks set to lose the stairs to its upper level when Belchers Corner is demolished.
Daniel Clarke, one of the owners of Hopetoun Chambers, uses the stairs to access his office space on level 2.
He said the cost of rebuilding the stairs should not just fall to Hopetoun Chambers owners and instead the entire body corporate — which includes members from Hopetoun Chambers, Belchers Corner and the former A & W Roberts Store on Moorabool
St — should pay to reinstate the access.
The City of Greater Geelong stepped in to handle the demolition of Belchers Corner last year following continued breaches of the emergency order by the owners corporation.
“After the demolition (of Belchers Corner) is complete and they have cleared the site, the City of Greater Geelong are … going to hand it back to us with no access to the top Hopetoun Chambers,” Mr Clarke said.
He said it was unlikely the five Hopetoun Chambers owners would be able to afford rebuilding the stairs because they were already contributing to the demolitions costs, which are estimated to blow out to $1.5 million.
“(Rebuilding the stairs) will never happen because you have to get everyone to agree. You’ll end up with a building, Hopetoun Chambers, where we can’t access the top floor,” Mr Clarke said.
“They have removed the stairs to do the demolition but they (the council) are not prepared to put the stairs back in.”
The council’s planning director, Gareth Smith, said access to Hopetoun Chambers’ upper level was the responsibility of the owners corporation.
“It is not appropriate for the city to fund such works to private property at the cost of the broader community,” Mr Smith said.
“The city has previously informed the owners corporation of their responsibilities in relation to this matter.
“The city will return the site to the owners corporation once we have made it safe.”