Calls for Southbank Promenade upgrades falling on “deaf ears”

City of Melbourne upgrades for Southbank Promenade could be left in limbo for five to 10 years, with the Yarra River Business Association (YRBA) arguing that the council was ignoring long-standing calls for improvements.

The business group, which has been lobbying the council for years to progress badly-needed improvements to Melbourne’s prime tourism strip, has called on the newly-elected councillors to advocate for urgent action. 

But the council has reaffirmed its position that upgrades for the promenade were being co-ordinated around the completion of the Southgate redevelopment, which isn’t expected to begin anytime soon.  

The $470 million Southgate project was greenlit by the state government in January but has since stalled.

In June, ESR Australia, which manages Southgate on behalf of Peninsula Investment Partners and Singapore-based Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust, confirmed that it was injecting $4.5 million into upgrading the precinct’s central area.

This is despite holding a planning approval from the state government since 2021 for a $470 million redevelopment of Southgate, which includes plans for new bars, restaurants, shops, and a 26-storey office building.

YRBA executive officer Tim Bracher said the council’s continued approach of tying the promenade’s upgrades to Southgate meant they would likely not be complete before 2030.

“There is nothing stopping the council getting in now to restore the public domain, which is looking very tired,” Mr Bracher said, adding that the promenade’s pavement was falling apart in many places and had become “unsafe to carry the tens of thousands of people each day” and was a serious public liability concern.

“Our key tourist area will continue to look like the poor, neglected cousin when compared to other riverfront developments in Australia,” Mr Bracher said.

Newly-elected Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece told Southbank News that the council “has been working diligently to deliver upgrades to this important riverside precinct.”

“Since 2022 we have made more space along the promenade for pedestrians, cyclists and traders, upgraded the lighting and installed new seating,” Cr Reece said.

“I love bluestone as much as the next Melburnian – one of my favourite features is the new bluestone paving along the promenade.” 

The Lord Mayor added that the council would be hosting a design competition in 2025, inviting designers from around the country to redesign Queensbridge Square’s infamous Red Stairs. 

“There’s a huge opportunity here to create a modern meeting place for Melburnians. A location that’s as well-known as ‘under the clocks’ at Flinders Street Station,” Cr Reece said. 

But Mr Bracher has previously taken issue with the competition, arguing that “the money and time to be invested in such a process will be far in excess of what a straightforward modification or removal of the steps would have cost”.

“It’s annoying that our council needs to be dragged along to address fairly simple maintenance issues in what is Melbourne’s tourism hub,” Mr Bracher said. 

Southbank News reached out to all nine newly-elected City of Melbourne councillors to ask them whether they would advocate to the council’s administration for more urgent action along Southbank Promenade. 

All councillors either declined to comment, referring the matter to the Lord Mayor’s office, or did not respond. 

Mr Bracher said the business community would continue to advocate for the completion of the original Southbank Promenade stage one works first announced in May 2022, which he said remained only 40 per cent complete.

“We have said to the council to complete the public domain works and if the commercial developments need to rip [the promenade] up, then they must reinstate the promenade exactly to the same standard after they finish their works,” said Mr Bracher.

“It’s what we have been saying to council for 12 months, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.” •