'PRAGMATIC' SEARCH FOR INJECTING ROOM

The search for a Kings Cross building suitable for the nation's first
legal injecting room - but without a "colourful" past - has proved
impossible, forcing police to apply "more pragmatic" probity checks.

A Herald check has revealed that the owners of 66 Darlinghurst Road -
the building favoured by the Uniting Church and given in-principle
approval by police - also own 44 Darlinghurst Road.

This has been leased in the past to the operators of several Kings
Cross nightclubs, including the notorious Stripperama which featured
prominently during the Wood Royal Commission as being involved in
illegal activities, including prostitution.

The owners of the property, Forte Enterprises Pty Ltd, whose directors
are Ms Cathreen Senes and Mr George Senes, ofDouble Bay, have gained
preliminary police approval, unlike Mrs Giovanna Toppi - the owner of
the building at 95 Macleay Street, originally short-listed to house
the proposed legal injecting room.

Mrs Toppi, matriarch of the establishment CBD lunch spot
Macchiavelli's, also owns a building in nearby Tusculum Street, which
she leases out to the operators ofTudor Court - one of Sydney's
best-known brothels, which operates with council approval.

The Uniting Church is poised to lodge a formal application to operate
the experimental legal injecting room at 66 Darlinghurst Road,which is
presently leased by Greater Union Theatres under a 10-year contract
believed to be worth more than $300,000 a year.

However, as the building proved unsuitable for a pinball business, the
Uniting Church is believed to be finalising negotiations to sub-lease
the site for an unspecified but smaller rental.

Yesterday, Commander Clive Small, of Crime Agencies, confirmed the
difficulty in finding a suitable site for an injecting room.

"Kings Cross is really only a couple of square kilometres and at least
part of that is residential. We are talking about a very small area.
Many of the buildings in Kings Cross have had an infamous past and, in
assessing a site, we were conscious of that," he said.

"This option is physically the best building. It has the capacity to
contain an internal foyer and waiting area, which means that people
[waiting to use the injecting rooms] do not have to congregate
outside, and this makes it a much better option for local residents
and businesses."

Commander Small said he could not comment on the decision to exclude
the building owned by Mrs Toppi, but revealed that a number of other
proposed sites had also been rejected.