The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has stopped a proposed apartment development from obscuring views of Melbourne’s iconic, heritage-listed Skipping Girl neon sign.
The Bates Smart-designed building on Victoria Street in Abbotsford, which is adjacent to the Skipping Girl sign, was proposed to be nine storeys, rising to a height of 33 metres, with a three-storey podium (12.8 metres).
The developer Salta Property Group took the application to VCAT after local council City of Yarra failed to decide on the application in an appropriate timeframe.
The tribunal heard objections from local resident groups as well as the National Trust, which voiced concerns that the development “would block views of the iconic neon landmark.”
Victoria’s planning minister Richard Wynne also intervened, sending a written submission to the tribunal after the hearing began. “The minister’s written submission [included a] comment on the impact of the development on the significance of the Yarra River and a comment on the impact of the development to views of the Skipping Girl sign.”
Wynne told Fairfax Media it was important to protect the sign “for the enjoyment of all Melburnians.”
VCAT agreed, “We consider that the podium for the whole of the Victoria Street frontage needs to be reduced to two levels,” said members Jeanette Rickards and J.A. Bennett.
The tribunal required the developer to reduce the size of the podium and to alter the design of the protruding balconies of the lower floors further to protect eastward views of the Skipping Girl sign.
The Bates Smart-designed development adjacent the Skipping Girl sign.
The sign was originally installed above the Skipping Girl Vinegar factory in 1936. Locals had always referred to it as “Little Audrey.” According to the Victorian Heritage Register’s statement of significance, the original sign “is believed to be the first animated neon sign in Melbourne.”
The factory moved to Altona in Melbourne’s west in 1968 and the building on which the original sign stood was demolished. The sign was regarded as a popular landmark and its removal sparked public outcry. In 1970, a new sign was made and installed 200 metres from the original site. It was switched off in 2001 and in 2009 the National Trust and AGL successfully restored to full illumination. Since 2012, “Little Audrey” has been powered by solar. In 2007, the Skipping Girl sign received a National Trust Victorian Heritage Icon Award in recognition of its social, historical and landmark significance.
The National Trust conceded that the visual impact of the Skipping Girl sign has been eroded by the cumulation of residential development in the area. But, it said, “Despite the transition to residential uses and development in the area, the sign’s visual prominence, day and night, should not be dimmed by development.”
