“It’s been a challenging number of years for all involved,and we are now getting on with what we do best,” he said. “We’d like to thank the state government for its support in working to resolve this matter in collaboration with Development Victoria.”
A Development Victoria spokesperson said:“The parties have agreed to resolve the dispute on confidential terms and the proceeding has been dismissed. We are unable to comment on the terms of settlement,which are confidential.”
The businesses claimed Development Victoria knew when it signed a lease with the tenants in mid-2015 that the pier was deteriorating “at an increasing rate,despite the repair works it was carrying out”.
They also claimed Development Victoria led tenants to believe that the repairs being undertaken would mean they could continue to do business until the end of their lease in 2026,but said this claim was misleading and deceptive.
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The business owners claimed the government agency knew for almost a year that the pier risked “catastrophic failure” but delayed acting in an apparent attempt to avoid spending tens of millions of dollars on repairs and compensation payments.
Documents filed in the court proceeding show that 10 months before access to the pier was suddenly closed,Development Victoria general manager Simon Wilson told his agency’s senior management and board:“The previous ‘high’ risk has been increased to extreme.”
“The impact of failure is now in the extreme category as the structure continues to deteriorate despite rectification works,” he wrote in an email.
A month later,engineering firm KBR — which had been responsible for monitoring the structure since at least 2013 — sent an explicit warning to Development Victoria about the severity of the threat.
“Due to the deterioration of the structural integrity of the pier,there is a significantly heightened risk to users,including the general public,from a catastrophic failure,” the firm wrote in November 2018.
“Although no structural failure has occurred to this point,the condition is such that a structural failure is likely to be sudden,without warning and catastrophic. The risk of injuries or fatalities in such an event is high.”
Heritage Victoria issued a permit to Development Victoria allowing it to demolish the whole structure,which has continued to deteriorate since its closure and is now too unsafe to access or restore.
Last month,the government announced a joint venture agreement with the AFL to explore redevelopment opportunities to transform Harbour Esplanade,which fronts Central Pier.
One proposal is to replace the pier with alarge fish-shaped structure containing a fresh food market,hawker-style eateries,restaurants,a conference centre and a university marine biology campus.
The demolition of the pier and its buildings is expected to take several years to complete.