A short walk from the suburb’s famed bright bathing boxes, the Brighton Savoy has a richer history than most Australian seaside hotels.
In its glory days the Melbourne venue hosted the likes of Bob Hawke, “Britain’s Marilyn Monroe” Sabrina and the second ever Logie awards, as well as countless wedding parties and holidaymakers over the past 63 years.
The four-star hotel has now become embroiled in controversy over a plan to permanently house recovering addicts in an upmarket drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.
Having been forced to close its doors for much of 2020 and 2021 because of Covid lockdowns, the Savoy has hosted the Refocus private rehabilitation program for the past nine months with little fanfare.
But when the hotel’s owners, siblings Jennifer and Michael Lee, applied last month for a permit to make the shift permanent, a small group of locals banded together in opposition.
The group says “no local community need has been demonstrated” for the facility, which is in an “inappropriate location” and will “substantially erode the existing family and children amenity of the local residential area”, according to a flyer distributed to nearby properties.
At a public meeting held outside the hotel last week, attended by the Brighton MP James Newbury, the group also claimed the rehabilitation program had led to an increase in crime in the area.
An image was circulated of two people using drugs outside a nearby service station, which was then published by the Herald Sun.
Guardian Australia understands the men pictured in the image have no relationship to the Refocus program.
‘We have to embrace these services with open arms’
Rob Gordon, a Brighton resident, received a flyer about the meeting and he said he was one of about six people who attended in a show of support for the rehab program.
“The people opposing have got no legitimacy whatsoever. It’s an absolute disgrace,” he told Guardian Australia.
Gordon has a personal connection to the issue – he lost his son Jake to a heroin overdose about 15 years ago at the age of 30.
“That ruined my life,” he said. “I don’t think it’s valid for anyone to say ‘not in my backyard’ because this is a problem in our backyard.
“We have to embrace these services with open arms and and help our fellow community members in their hour of need.”
The rehab program does not come cheap. Previously run out of private residential properties in Toorak – another of Melbourne’s most affluent suburbs – for about 20 years, it costs up to $24,800 for four weeks and includes group and behavioural therapy, meditation sessions, personal training and one-on-one counselling.
Felicity Frederico, an independent candidate set to challenge Newbury for the seat at the November state election, said the hotel was being “used as a political beat-up” ahead of the poll.
“There is no crime wave. There’s no alcohol or drugs on the premises. There’s no medical care on the premises,” she said. “There’s been a lot of political grandstanding without any facts.”
Law and order was already a hot topic in Brighton, after local model and television presenter Rebecca Judd alleged in June there was a gang problem.
“So sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of gangs in Bayside,” the Brighton resident wrote on Instagram.
“The state government don’t seem to care. We feel unsafe.”
It prompted a rebuke from the premier, Daniel Andrews, who said the crime rate in the area was not reflective of Judd’s views.
Indeed, according to data from the Crime Statistics Agency, the local government area of Bayside, which takes in the suburbs including Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham, has the second-lowest overall crime rate in Melbourne, with 4,300 offences per 100,000 population – down more than 20% on 2020.
Meanwhile, drug overdose deaths in the area have steadily grown since 2012, with three fatalities that year compared to 15 in 2021, according to a report released by the Victorian coroners court on Tuesday.
The Bayside councillor Clarke Martin, who is also running as an independent candidate in the neighbouring seat of Sandringham, said drug addiction and mental illness did not discriminate by postcode.
“We can’t be sweeping the scourge of addiction and mental health issues under the carpet and sending it off to someone else’s backyard. It’s got to be dealt with sensitively and appropriately and the last thing we need is fear mongering,” he said, adding it had echoes of the Liberal party’s “African gangs” focus at the 2018 Victorian election.
“Voters don’t want to play that game. They hate it. They want a nuanced discussion on the issues and someone to provide solutions.”
The Lee siblings did not want to be interviewed for this story. In a statement, Jennifer Lee said there was “no link between our clients and the alleged crime wave in Brighton nor has Council or local police ever raised this as a concern”.
“While I have thankfully not experienced substance addiction myself, I have over 30 years of lived experience around addiction and recovery and the opportunity to do good for some of the most stigmatised people in our community strongly resonated with us,” she said.
“You can’t punish the pain out of people. You can’t shame or bully people into recovery.”
A spokesperson for Bayside city council said Brighton Savoy’s planning application remains under assessment. Public submissions closed on 25 August.
Attempts to contact organisers of the group opposed to the clinic were unsuccessful. Newbury did not respond to requests for comment.
