{"id":738093,"date":"2026-06-15T13:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/738093\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T13:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:02:19","slug":"stonnington-council-tree-dispute-why-the-windsor-castle-hotel-renovation-remains-in-limbo-despite-provisional-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/738093\/","title":{"rendered":"Stonnington Council tree dispute: Why the Windsor Castle Hotel renovation remains in limbo despite provisional approval"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RachaelSave<\/p>\n

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Publican Liam Ganley has a grand plan \u2013 and a planning permit \u2013 to overhaul his \u201ctired\u201d Windsor Castle Hotel, but he claims a dispute over a single tree has stalled the multimillion-dollar redevelopment.<\/p>\n

Ganley wants to build a brick wall to stop noise echoing into homes surrounding the historic watering hole off Chapel Street, but no construction work can start until the tree stoush is settled.<\/p>\n

\"WindsorWindsor Castle Hotel owner Liam Ganley in front of the Bhutan Cypress tree which has been a subject of dispute with Stonnington Council.Justin McManus<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an absolute disgrace,\u201d Ganley said. \u201cThis venue hasn\u2019t really changed much in the last 20-odd years so it\u2019s in desperate need of repair, renovation and to be upgraded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pub closed two weeks ago, its windows now adorned with a sign reading \u201cclosed due to Stonnington Council inaction\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Prahran<\/a><\/p>\n

For the past five months, Ganley says he has been battling the council over the future of a Bhutan Cypress tree on the edge of the pub\u2019s beer garden.<\/p>\n

The publican said it had to be removed for a three-metre-tall double-brick wall to be built on the property\u2019s boundary to reduce noise, with surrounding awnings to be demolished. There are no plans to remove a fig tree that dominates the courtyard.<\/p>\n

The council granted a planning permit for major renovations in December 2025 but explicitly ruled out removing the Cypress tree, instead instructing Ganley to apply for a tree-works permit before work could begin.<\/p>\n

One month later, that was denied on the grounds the healthy tree could remain a \u201cmedium to longer-term element in the landscape\u201d if well maintained. Ganley appealed, but was knocked back in April.<\/p>\n

\"AA sign on the window of the Windsor Castle Hotel.Rachael Ward<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease note that with the current Climate Emergency retaining large trees in the landscape is critically important, especially given the time it takes for a tree to grow to a functional size,\u201d a senior council manager said in a letter.<\/p>\n

Late on Friday, the council granted provisional approval for the tree\u2019s removal, subject to conditions such as planting a replacement tree.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s little comfort to Ganley who said the redevelopment remains in limbo and questioned why it took five months for council to reach that position. \u201cWhere can we replant? This is going to be potentially another redesign. Why is it coming so late?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be out here helping us get this moving, move mountains to get us going here. Why is it always so hard to do anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, Stonnington Council chief executive Dale Dickson said the matter was thoroughly reviewed and a decision to grant provisional approval to remove the tree was made at the senior executive level late last week.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Toorak<\/a><\/p>\n

He said sufficient evidence related to the tree removal permit was initially \u201cnot provided in a timely manner\u201d by Ganley\u2019s company or their representative, but once it was, the permit was approved within six business days.<\/p>\n

\u201cDelays over previous appeals processes have resulted from information not being provided in a timely manner by the Ganley Group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ganley Group, which owns seven venues around Melbourne including the Carlton Club, purchased the pub after it entered into voluntary administration under different owners in 2024.<\/p>\n

Ganley said he shut the pub entirely two weeks ago as it is \u201cfalling apart\u201d, with staff stood down and the business now losing about $10,000 a week. He hopes major renovation works can begin within months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be probably opening in March or April next year, so we\u2019ve lost that whole summer season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\"RachaelRachael Ward<\/a> is a journalist in the City team at The Age. Contact her at rachael.ward@theage.com.auConnect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-738093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}