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Montague: a suburb?

Montague: a suburb?

Montague: a suburb? Ever since the previous planning minister and current Leader of the Opposition, Matthew Guy, re zoned the Fishermans Bend urban renewal area as a Capital City Zone, the use of the name Montague has had a resurgence.

 And now there is a proposal being brought to the City of Port Philip by Cr Marcus Pearl, a councillor for Gateway Ward, to create the suburb of Montague.

The actual area is bounded by Johnson St, Boundary St, City Rd, Ferrars St and the West Gate Freeway.

It would be quite a small suburb, joining the likes of Cremorne, Kooyong and Jolimont.

Speaking personally, I quite like the idea of celebrating the history of the area, as even though it was in South Melbourne, the residents (right up until the 1950 and 60s) described themselves as living in Montague.

What do you think? Will dropping South Melbourne for the name Montague change anything for you?

Would you be sad to lose living in South Melbourne or would you embrace the new moniker as a way of expressing the rapid growth and change of this small part of Melbourne?

I would love to hear from you – my email address is below.

Meet a Montaguan! As a regular part of this column, we will be introducing you to a Montague resident, or worker (thankyou to Sara Madderson for the idea).

Here is the first! Gary Willis Who are you? Gary - I am an artist and a writer, approaching my 70s.

What brought you to live or work in the Montague Precinct.

At the time, we bought in -–it was relatively inexpensive and a bit of a sleepy hollow.

We bought an old office and created a home.

We liked Montague’s quirky industrial ambiance.

 It is so close to the city and it is just around the corner from the South Melbourne Market and Gasworks Farmers’ Market. What is the most interesting thing(s) about living in Montague Precinct?

It is quiet, and yet surprisingly close to the city, the Arts Precinct and public transport.

We also love the parks, the proximity of the beach, the community and their dogs.

We have a dog and, as Port Melbourne is close, there are numerous leash-free parks.

How does living in Montague affect your quality of life, including your work?

Montague offers a mix of urban sophistication combined with a curious sanctuary from the pressure of city life.

It is so close to the urban hub, I find can easily get to meetings – friends and clients find it easy to get to me.

Public transport is great but the roads are gridlocked.

What are the challenges of living in MP? As the urban density has and will continue to increase, this has brought with it more people walking the streets, more traffic, more need for parking and a lot more noise. 

I’m in my studio at night and used to have no problems with the day-time noise, but it continues to grow at a rapid rate, noise that is!

If you could change something about Montague life, what would it be?

I would stop the overflow of traffic from Montague St into the smaller streets.

Much of the traffic in this area is not here for Montague as a destination, but spreads into the side streets because of the Montague St traffic grid lock.

We also look forward, soon, to more facilities on the streets, such as shops, restaurants etc, that will create a feeling for the current and growing community of an urban village.

But I am glad I live here!

Trisha Avery Convener - Montague Community Alliance

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