DECISION CLOSE ON INJECTING ROOM SITE

An unused pinball parlour on Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, is likely to
become the site of Australia's first legal heroin injecting room.

It is understood 66 Darlinghurst Road is leased to Greater Union Theatres
under a 10-year contract believed to be worth more than $300,000 a year.

However, the building proved unsuitable for a pinball business and remains
vacant, with the Uniting Church finalising negotiations to sub-lease the
site for an unspecified but smaller rental.

The owner of the building, a Sydney businessman with wider property
interests in the area, is understood to have passed police probity checks,
although he has not yet agreed formally to the sub-lease proposal.

The Herald has been told the site fulfils strict criteria set down by the
State Government to regulate the injecting room trial, including
ground-level entry, easy ambulance access, an area covering between 150 and
200 square metres and proximity to Springfield Mall.

The criteria also state the site must have the support of all major parties
affected by the trial, including local residents, nearby businesses and the
police.

It is understood the Uniting Church is confident it can open the doors of
the new legal injecting room by June despite delays in finding a site
supported by all parties and gaining the Police Commissioner's imprimatur.

The projected operating budget for the trial is also believed to have
increased in the wake of delays, rising from about $800,000 for the one-year
trial originally quoted by the Sisters of Charity to more than $1.2 million.

But a push to find staff has been successful, with advertisements for key
personnel, including a medical director, general manager and nursing staff,
attracting a strong and supportive response.

The old pinball site will need to undergo some structural, internal works if
it is chosen to host the trial, as space for a health and counselling
section has to be designed and incorporated, along with extra facilities
such as downstairs toilets and sinks.

The State Government appears firm in its decision to continue with the
ground-breaking experiment despite a call from the Prime Minister, Mr
Howard, last year that Australia may be in breach of international United
Nations narcotics conventions if NSW proceeds.

In Melbourne, the fledgling Labor Government is in the unusual position of
having a site ready and equipped to begin an injecting room trial but no
legislation to legalise it.

The Government faces a struggle to gain the approval of three conservative
Independent MPs who hold the balance of power and the backing of the Upper
House, which is dominated by Coalition MPs.

The Sydney building was not one of three Kings Cross sites, short-listed
from 10, that were recommended by the special committee appointed to explore
suitable sites for the safe injecting room experiment.

This original list favoured 95 Macleay Street, Potts Point, which
Sydneysiders knew for two decades as La Strada, one of the city's most
famous Italian restaurants.

The building was owned by Mrs Giovanna Toppi, the matriarch of the
establishment CBD lunch spot Macchiavelli's.

Mrs Toppi also owns the building in nearby Tusculum Street in which one of
Sydney's best-known brothels runs Tudor Court, a business that operates with
full council approval.

The other sites identified as potentially suitable were a terrace at 159
Brougham Street and a former self-service laundry in Orwell Street.