News / Crime & Emergency
‘Suspicious’ fire at disputed property
Police appeal for witnesses, information about Sunday morning blaze
Brunswick Voice
POLICE are investigating a suspicious fire on Sunday at a building in Brunswick that has been the subject of a five-year legal dispute between Merri-bek Council and a community organisation.
The fire caused internal damage to the Dar-Alawda (Wendel Street) Community Centre hall in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The building is part of a property in Wendel Street that the council has been seeking to regain ownership of.
A Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson said it had responded to a structure fire at 3.24am on Sunday after callers to Triple Zero reported seeing flames through a window of the building.
Firefighters arrived on scene within seven minutes to find a fire at the rear of the single storey weatherboard hall.
Wearing breathing apparatus, crews worked quickly to contain and extinguish the fire, with the scene declared under control at 3.41am.
Firefighters conducted a thorough secondary search of the building and found no occupants, and handed the scene to Victoria Police after deeming it suspicious.
Police forensic officers visited the scene, which was roped off with police tape, later on Sunday.
Witnesses said the interior of the building appeared to have been badly burnt.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be established however, the fire is being treated as suspicious,” police said in a statement.
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The building is part of the Montfort Park site which has been the centre of a legal tussle between the council and Dar-Alawda for five years.
Merri-bek, then known as the City of Moreland, commenced legal action against Dar-Alawda in 2020 following complaints from local residents that the organisation was preventing public access to the basketball court it built at Montfort Park.
Public access was a key condition attached to the sale of the land, on the corner of Wendel and Henkel streets, by the council to Dar-Alawda for $100,000 in 2004.
In 2023, Victorian Supreme Court Justice Melinda Richards found Dar-Alawda was in breach of the 2004 sale conditions and ordered the organisation must sell the land back to the council for $579,500.
That ruling was reinforced by the Victorian Court of Appeal in September, and last month the High Court of Australia refused an application by Dar-Alawda seeking leave to appeal.
A council spokesperson said the transfer of the site has not been finalised, and Dar-Alawda currently remain the registered owners of the property.
Dar-Alawda president Anthony Helou did not respond to messages by phone or SMS.
Police have urged anyone who witnessed the fire, has CCTV/dashcam vision or information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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