Iconic Bennetts Lane Venue Gains Unanimous Approval For Relocation Plans

Renowned Melbourne venue the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club has gained unanimous council approval for their plans to relocate to a new base of operations on Flinders Lane.

As News Corp reports, the plans, which come a little under a year after the venue reopened under new ownership following a brief closure in mid-2015, will see the club ultimately make the move from its current premises at 25 Bennetts Lane to a space at the rear of Flinders Lane's Grand Hyatt complex — previously occupied by Monsoons nightclub — encompassing three levels, a cafe and 320-patron capacity.

News of the unanimous approval, which was passed on Tuesday night, came through from the venue on social media today, in a post which thanked the venue's supporters and the various councillors who voted in favour of the planning submission: the chairman, councillor Rohan Leppert; the Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle; the Deputy Lord Mayor, Susan Riley; and councillors Richard Foster, Kevin Louey, Stephen Mayne, Cathy Oke, Beverley Pinder-Mortimer, Jackie Watts and Arron Wood. The post also addressed an interesting piece of connective history that came to light during the approval process.

"It was also revealed that our Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, is a direct descendant of Robert Bennett, who was Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1861, after whom our lane and therefore our club is named after!" the post said.

According to News Corp, the club will maintain similar hours of operation (open till 3am six nights a week) and will be both licensed (main room) and unlicensed (cafe).