RETAILERS QUIT CITY AS HEROIN MOVES IN

Two prominent retailers are preparing to quit Melbourne's Bourke Street and
others are considering leaving amid concern that the worsening heroin trade
has made the area unsafe.

Traders say customers are being driven away by shoplifting, stock damage,
people overdosing and vomiting, disputes between drug dealers, and large
groups blocking the footpaths.

They have dubbed the area around Bourke and Russell streets as the Golden
Elbow, a reference to the notorious Asian drug-growing region known as the
Golden Triangle.

Confectionery retailer Darrell Lea is closing its Bourke Street store in
July after 40 years' trade, while comics and pop culture shop Minotaur is
moving to Elizabeth Street in June.

Another six shops along Bourke Street between Russell and Swanston Streets
said they had noticed a dramatic increase in drug trade occurring outside,
and on some occasions inside, their premises over the past 18 months.

Darrell Lea's state manager Lael Lea said: "the drug problem is rife and we
have staff up there who would prefer not to be working there."

Minotaur's co-manager Steve McCredie described Bourke Street as "little
more than a filth-encrusted alley". His fellow manager, Shane Scully, said:
"You would be hard pressed to find a toilet that didn't have blue lights
that hide veins. It is a red-and-blue-light district."

Many stores approached by The Age refused to comment for fear it would
further affect business. But four stores employ private security guards for
stock loss and personal safety. The manager of another shop said "we would
rather leave" than hire a security guard for protection.

The manager of one cafe criticised the response of police and council.
"There's not enough being done about it. Busting dealers only works for a
while. Haven't they learnt that already?" he asked.

There have been five heroin-related deaths in central Melbourne this year.
Another person died in hospital after being found in the city.

Victoria Police conducted a raid on drug activity along Russell Street
between Bourke and Lonsdale Streets in January and made 26 arrests in 24
hours. Since September, police have had a mobile information van in the
area on weekdays.

Superintendent Tony Warren said: "We've been using uniform members to go
out and visit the shopkeepers in the area and give them advice on crime
prevention strategies."

Last week, the City of Melbourne became the third major city in the world
and the only one in the southern hemisphere to receive "Safe Community"
status from the World Health Organisation.

Councillor David Risstrom, chairman of the council's City Safety Forum said
this was international recognition that Melbourne is a safe place to do
business.

"I'd personally like to see that part of Melbourne (Russell and Bourke
Streets) improved," he said.

Industry bodies on the City of Melbourne's Safe City Forum have played down
the significance of the drug trade in the decision of the two retailers to
leave the area.

Ray McNamara, of the City Centre Executives group, said: "We live through
cycles, businesses come and go and the market has no mercy on people in
retail, big or small."

The Australian Retailers Association said retail in Melbourne was vibrant.
The drug trade was confined to just one small area in the city.