28 June 2022. In response to the City of Melbourne’s latest undermining of the cultural heritage of the Queen Victoria Market, Charles Sowerwine, Chair of the RHSV Heritage Committee, released the following statement.
“The CEO of the Queen Victoria Market, Stan Liacos, has been on a propaganda offensive, presenting a warm fuzzy on change at the Queen Victoria Market. As CEO, Stan has driven the process of change currently engulfing the market, change based on the proposals Robert Doyle made nine years ago, since overwhelmingly rejected by the people of Melbourne. The issue is not whether the market ‘should stay just as it is’. The issue is whether change will be driven by family business stall-holders responding to their customers in the canopy provided by the historic sheds and buildings, or by bureaucrats seeking high end stalls offering ‘value add’ products from hygienic, uniform fixed stalls, ‘a brighter, lighter, cleaner, greener more contemporary’ market.
“Historically, the market offered space, basic facilities and parking at reasonable rents. Change occurred as new generations could come to the market with few resources and build a family business, responding to new demands and shaping evolving tastes. They made it a people’s market. The City wants a different market, where corporate and franchise stall-holders will pay high rents. The new buildings planned for the market are designed to accommodate this new workforce. If the City implements this vision, the market will lose its soul and its heritage will be irrelevant.”
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