The Greyhound – If In Doubt, Don’t.

The development of the Greyhound Hotel into a 24-hour gay sauna brings many concerns, none of which are based on any moral judgments or the NIMBY reflex. The immediate neighbourhood is worried about the attendant parking and traffic issues that are sure to eventuate, but more importantly the effect of such a facility, perched above a pub, will have on the barely controlled street prostitution rife in Blessington Street, Carlisle Street, St Kilda Road and the Peanut Farm rent boys.

It is well known that, when setting up a retail enterprise, it is a good idea to set up close to a similar one and create a precinct where your clientele can be concentrated. Street sex is a retail commodity, but as its illegality means its operatives tend to be less bothered by social norms and sanctions than others there is a fear that such a facility as the Greyhound Bathhouse could act as some sort of attraction for those who supply the demand and those who demand the supply.

The local community is also concerned that it may serve as a de facto safe-house for either of the above parties; safe houses are a good idea; there should be lots of them, all over the place, but they need to be specifically designated and resourced as such. Finally, we must face the unsavoury fact that the sauna could become an extra attraction for those over-refreshed tourists who like visit St Kilda in their motor cars in order to yell at the street workers and, frankly, beat gays to a pulp.

I repeat, this is not a moral issue per se; I have no objection to pubs and I have no objection to gay saunas, but combining the two on a busy intersection, on top of a pub notorious for its wild and woolly patrons and within toddling distance of schools, kindergartens and libraries is possibly not the wisest proposition. This is not an industrial corner of Collingwood; this is a highly residential area of St Kilda and I suggest that any need for yet another establishment such as this would be better met by parking it discreetly among some shop fronts.

The council readily admit that it is an experiment and that they do really not know what the eventual outcome might or not be. That’s all very well, but St Kilda ratepayers and close neighbours of the Greyhound Hotel have the right to know that something can and will be done if the experiment fails; councilors can go home but we, the residents of Blessington Ward, will be stuck with the fallout on a 24-hour basis.

Business plans and management strategies cannot effectively address the problems that could easily manifest themselves if this plan goes ahead; shutting it down could, but not putting it there in the first place might be the most convenient solution; after all, prevention is better than cure.