Espy Hotel Campaign 1997-2003

The Esplanade Hotel (The Espy) has graced St Kilda's foreshore promenade since 1878.

The campaign to save St Kilda’s Esplande Hotel (The Espy) was sparked by a one-paragraph article - written by John Hurley and buried in the back pages of The Age of 28 August 1997: Becton buys St Kilda Hotel.  

Becton Corporation was a heavyweight in the redevelopment arena. It was not in the business of running pubs or live music venues.

In the fading months of 1997, the protagonists in the Esplanade Hotel drama prepared their strategies. Becton announced a Design Competition. 

On 24 June 1998, Becton Corporation submitted a planning amendment application to the City of Port Phillip, seeking to remove the current six-storey height limit to allow a tower of up to 38 storeys on the site.

War had been declared. The battle lines were drawn. The public had six weeks, from 8 October to 20 November 1998 - the duration of the amendment’s exhibition period - to save the Espy.

Councillors met at 9:00 pm on Tuesday 15 December 1998 to consider Amendment L68/C11 to the Port Phillip Planning Scheme

In March 1999 a new tower vision threatened the Espy.

The idea to allow a developer, in this case the Becton Corporation, to have a say in the planning guidelines that would govern its development site, was a 1998 Council strategy to appease a hostile Planning Minister.

Successive developers had been more interested in the profits to be made from developing the Espy Hotel site than from running the pub, which sat at the front corner of the foreshore land.

Amendment C25 to the Port Phillip Planning Scheme would be a ground-breaking document, for it would, for the first time, recognise cultural use as a valid consideration in the planning guidelines.

Becton's revised planning application, lodged on 12 November 2002, blocked access to loading bays servicing the Espy's main stage, severely impacting its ability to function as a live music venue.  

On 18 February 2003 Becton lodged an appeal against Council’s decision to refuse its planning application. The VCAT hearing was set to start on 4 August 2003.

Amidst the focus on live music, Becton made its most insidious move to date. It threatened to shut down the Espy by forcing the hoteliers to withdraw behind the 2001 lease-line, immediately.

Becton came to VCAT with an impressive team. Led by CJ Canavan QC, the team produced favourable evidence from architects Fender Katsalidis and Peckvonhartel...

There is the St Kilda of sunsets, bars and live music venues and then there is the St Kilda of perennial planning disputes.