Ongoing saga of the Unicorn pub is a dry argument

BALLARAT'S Unicorn Hotel saga has dragged on for far too many years. The building, while not the most significant in the Sturt St streetscape, is nonetheless one that is worthy of urgent and fast-tracked attention. We are assured by the building's owner that things are happening. The delay is in part, he says, because of council processes. Given the frustrating problems council has in its planning area, that excuse is not hard to believe. And if that is the case, council, given its desire to see action on the building sooner rather than later, should ensure any delay at its end is accelerated. It would be unfair to place all the blame, however, at the feet of council, and certainly, the developer has not sought to do that. The community is still not sure, however, why there are such long delays in returning this building to its former glory. Like the council, Heritage Victoria has an interest in seeing it restored. Council has written to the authority seeking its support in getting some action. A spokeswoman for Heritage Victoria said last week a meeting would be sought with the developer with a view to getting a better idea of what stage the development was at. Let's hope such a meeting takes place as quickly as possible and that we get a clearer picture of just when we can expect the Unicorn to be functional again. As it stands, the building is an eyesore in an otherwise proud and historically significant part of our city. And as we've seen in the past, the longer such buildings are left idle, the less likely they are to be preserved. We do not want to see the Unicorn Hotel fall into such a state of disrepair that the only option is to demolish and start again.