NEWS
A long-term and respected local business identity wants Fortitude Valley rid of the eyesore Waltons building – either cleaned up or preferably redeveloped – and support for his campaign is spreading.
Pharmacist James Delahunty (above), whose Cost-Less Chemists outlet in Brunswick Street is opposite the dilapidated building said of his neighbour: “It’s a scar on the face of the Valley. The interior is like the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami but this blight on the Valley has taken years of wilful neglect in coming.
“What use to be the No2 shopping mall in Brisbane must be No 100 and falling fast.” For many Valley visitors, Waltons was their first impression “and it turns them right off. They have to grit their teeth as they pass it”.
“This is not the Valley we want. We need a clean building with people in it.”
Mr Delahunty says he’s made the disgraceful state of the building his campaign for 2011. And he argues that if City Council currently does not have laws in place to force the owners of the Waltons building to clean it up both inside and out, then it should put them on the books as soon as possible.
He points to successful local government legislation that has seen the City of London crack down on dilapidated or unsafe buildings in recent years. A veteran of Valley businesss since 1979, Mr Delahunty asked Lord Mayor Campbell Newman at a recent Valley Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Cloudland what could be done to force the Waltons owners to overhaul the building.
Cr Newman said council was fairly limited in its powers to make building owners improve their premises. “Truthfully, that’s a touchy one and quite difficult,” he said. “I do not believe we have the power to do something unless the building is unsafe or derelict.” He added that council “can’t force property owners to redevelop”.
Mr Delahunty said: “Is it derelict? Yes. Unsafe? That’s for council to decide. It’s certainly a place for vermin and rats.”
Mr Delahunty’s campaign has since been endorsed by the Valley Chamber of Commerce and long-term city councillor David Hinchliffe who says the building is a “total and utter disgrace”.
Cr Hinchliffe has asked the State Government to consider a change to the Queensland Building Act to ensure councils have powers to force owners to clean up “filthy” buildings such as the Waltons building in the centre of the Valley.
“Council officers say they have no powers to enforce the owner to clean it up. Council officers and the Lord Mayor say that the council’s powers extend only to making owners address structural problems – a dangerous ceiling or wall, etc. The State Building Act only allows action on “filthy” buildings if the building is both “filthy” and “infested with disease”.
If council could act simply on the basis of a building being “filthy” then it would have much stronger powers to deal with irresponsible, negligent owners. “British legislation allows councils there to take such action. We need to have the same thing here.”
Mr Delahunty’s campaign comes at a time when the internal walkway through the Waltons building has never looked more shameful. The ten-metre stretch between the end of the Valley Metro complex and the separate building that housed the former Chinese Club has been left uncleaned for weeks. Floor tiles are lifted or missing or cracked, and there is rubbish piled up in corners and against walls. Some weeks ago, a bowl of pasta was thrown against the southern wall of the walkway. The bowl stayed put for several weeks before being removed; the spray of food remains as an unsightly mess where it was first thrown (above left). For many train travellers seeking the entertainment precinct or retail shops, it’s their first impression of the Valley once outside the station confines. The building that houses the Wickham Street escalators – a nominee for our Valley Grot Spots campaign last year – is not much better when it comes to assailing the senses, with broken and exposed light fittings on a dirty ceiling, outdated and tatty advertising signs, graffiti, unclean walls and a grubby looking set of escalators down to Wickham Street that are often out of action, making its steep steps a real danger for the old and the frail.
Have your say on this issue!
Do you make your daily trek through Waltons on your way to work? Or see it in all its gory when you come in for a weekend coffee or to take in the pub and club music scene? Send us your thoughts on what should be done – legally that is – to: editor@theindependent.com.au or drop us your ideas to PO Box 476 Fortitude Valley Q 4006.
