The Australian city’s draft budget puts forward proposals to futher green the city, including nine new parks and open spaces and expansion of its tree canopy.
The City of Melbourne will begin or progress work on nine new parks and open spaces across the municipality, through a proposed $29.5m investment in open space in the draft budget 2024-25.
It involves converting concrete areas into new parks and public squares for its growing population.
Access to green, open space
Lord mayor Sally Capp explained the initiatives are part of a bigger plan to transform the city from “grey to green”, especially in areas that need it most. These include Southbank where it proposes to add up to 1.2 hectares to Normanby Road Reserve.
If endorsed, the $22.5m project will deliver significant and multi-use amenities to the area, including spaces for play and lawns for recreation, picnics and community gatherings. The park will also feature extensive plantings and integrated water management features.
“As more and more people choose to make the City of Melbourne their home – we want to ensure all our residents have access to green, open space,” said Capp.
Southbank is the city’s most densely populated residential neighbourhood. The council will progress key projects delivering more open space including the Australian Centre of Contemporary Art forecourt and Miles and Dodds Street Reserve.
Melburnians will soon be able to have their say on council’s City Road Masterplan as community consultation begins on plans for the Northern Undercroft – which would convert a 5,000 m2 area into multi-function spaces, gardens and public plazas.
The North Melbourne community will also be able to enjoy a larger, more functional park when the Bedford Street Pocket Park opens next year, featuring a new play area, a barbeque and picnic area and more recreation space for friends and families to come together.
As part of Council’s draft Budget, parks and gardens will be protected and maintained through a $30m investment, and a further $1.7m will be used to plant another 3,000 trees across the municipality.
“Increasing greening and canopy cover further improves environmental biodiversity and helps to mitigate climate change effects, future-proofing the health of our city,” added Capp.
Council is well on track to achieve its goal of 40 per cent canopy cover by 2040 through the Urban Forest Strategy – planting more than 33,000 trees since 2012.
Even more areas of the city will be transformed from grey to green with $3.9m to support greening projects including the Swanston Street Triangle, Chapman Street Reserve, Roden Street and MacKenzie Street.
A further $300,000 will encourage the private sector to contribute more towards greening the city, through Council’s match-funding Urban Forest Fund.
Major construction will also begin later this month on the City of Melbourne’s Greenline Project, which will deliver 4km of interconnected promenades, parks, open spaces, plants and more to life between Birrarung Marr and the Bolte Bridge.
The City of Melbourne will continue building toward its zero-carbon target through a $281,000 investment in Retrofit Melbourne to advance the city’s plan to support commercial building retrofits for a healthier, more sustainable city.
“Our parks and gardens are a key part of what makes Melbourne the most liveable city in Australia – that’s why we’re making sure we continue to preserve and create even more green spaces,” said environment portfolio lead councillor Rohan Leppert.
“Our significant investment will ensure nature in our city flourishes – improving the wellbeing of our community and creating a more resilient city in the face of climate change.”
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Quelle/Source: Smart Cities World, 10.05.2024
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