Another year has passed …

It has been a big year for Southbank, with much development and in some aspects progress.

We have supposedly seen the completion of Stage 1 of Southbank Promenade upgrades. I say “supposedly” as what was proposed to what was received are two different outcomes. Something Southbank Residents’ Association (SRA) will continue to challenge the council on.

Announcement of the Normanby Rd open space reserve expansion of 1.2 hectares. However, we saw the loss of the planned 3.4 hectares of open space through the decking of the City Link tunnel entrance, as per the Southbank Structure Plan 2010. Therefore, you could argue in 2024 Southbank had a net loss of 2.2 hectares of proposed open space – a travesty!

Commencement of the $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation seeing the removal of the old CUB site, which thus far is a remarkable transformation of the street level experience having all the sunlight peering through in places that hasn’t seen direct sunlight for a very long time. Although it is still too early to imagine what the space will look like once replaced with NGV Contemporary gallery. However, it is certainly looking promising and represents a massive win for Southbank.

The commencement of the removal of Exxon Mobil – ESSO House on the promenade to make way for a hotel.

The sale of the Queensbridge Hotel site to PDG which will hopefully lead to development of a high-traffic area which at present is a blight on Southbank. Hopefully, this will start sooner rather than later and there are positive signs already with the site having been cleaned up (see picture).

Establishment of temporary basketball courts after the removal of the courts on the Boyd Park site. This was an initiative of SRA for the council to liaise with OSK (the developer of the Melbourne Square site where the new basketball courts are located). We were delighted when this was achieved.

I would like to include the further development of the City Road masterplan, but sadly, I am fearful what has been proposed this year is all talk and nothing will come of this in the short term. It’s an expensive exercise and the council has not ascertained how it will be funded, except to say it is hoping for state government funding. Given the state’s finances, I am not hopeful the council will be successful there but would be happily proven wrong. 

And significantly, the infrastructure modifications to allow the opening of the Burnley tunnel to livestock vehicles from early 2025 in a 12-month trial is a big win for Southbank. Although this is just a small portion of the trucks using Power St and City Rd, it is a start. However, during this trial it is NOT compulsory for livestock vehicles to use the tunnel, it is voluntary. So, it will be interesting to see how many will choose to save a few $$ and keep using Power St and City Rd and, if so, whether there is an appetite from the transport minister to make it compulsory at the end of the trial period.

SRA has a big 2025 planned with the launch of our highly anticipated app joining local businesses with the local community. There will be an abundance of special offers only available to residents of Southbank and members of SRA, so if you are not a paid supporter of SRA, we think you will find great value in your support, notwithstanding without membership SRA voice is not heard in our advocacy. We will also be holding our AGM early 2025, so watch this space. If you are keen to be involved in your community, we would love to hear from you with how you can get involved.

Finally, the SRA committee wishes our community a safe and joyous festive season and we look forward to engaging with you again in 2025. •