Southbank Residents’ Group

I came to Melbourne more than nine years ago, attracted by its quality of living and the high education standards provided by its universities.

After living in South Yarra and Port Melbourne, I moved to Southbank after securing a job in the CBD area.

I have lived since then in Southbank and I can say without doubt that it is my favorite place to live.

My interest for Southbank affairs recently got me appointed as the President of the Southbank Residents Group Inc (SRGI).

While writing this article, I came across another article written almost ten years ago regarding the challenges faced by the Southbank community.

To my surprise most of the issues remained and little or nothing has been done to address them.

My concern is that the local population has doubled since then and the infrastructure and local amenities have not kept pace with the population growth.

A snapshot of Southbank 10 years ago, showed that the population was around 6,000 residents made up of young professionals, international and local students, young couples and empty nesters.

The consensus of the people living in Southbank was that the suburb had a shortage of schools, library services, local parks, childcares, low cost meeting space and shopping facilities (clothing, groceries, etc).

Southbank 2012 has a population of 11,500 and the issues still remain the same. These issues will be compounded once all the high rise buildings currently under construction are finished, which will put additional pressure to the already congested traffic on City Road, Queensbridge Street and Power Street.

The sense of community continues to improve and more projects similar to the one undertaken at the old Boyd School site should be developed to make Southbank a more vibrant and livable suburb.

It is important that the local and the state governments connect with the community to understand our needs in order to address them in a timely manner and not in another 10 years.

Please do not let Southbank become a high rising dumping site and ensure that its community receives the amenities and servicesthat we deserve. Let’s stop playing catch up.

If you would like to share your ideas, comments or concerns about Southbank’s future, please feel free to contact us via email: [email protected].