In a bid to reverse the declining fortunes of St Kilda's once popular Fitzroy Street, the state government has invited the local council to apply for funding for CCTV cameras along the troubled strip.

Local MP Martin Foley has urged Port Phillip Council to apply to the government's Public Safety Infrastructure Fund for money to finance the cameras.

Tolarno Hotel owner Jim Fagan in a near empty Fitzroy Street on Wednesday. "It's so very bleak now," he says. "It should be the most beautiful boulevard leading to the sea." Credit:Wayne Taylor

The strip has long been plagued by drug dealing and crime, but there are now many vacant shops and few pedestrians on weekdays.

"Fitzroy Street is at a lower point than I've ever seen it," Mr Foley said on Wednesday. "I've lived in that area for most of my life, and the whole down-at-heel feel of the street needs some support."