Land swap for promenade park

By David Schout

The City of Melbourne has swapped a small parcel of land with a developer in exchange for a new public park on Southbank Promenade larger than two basketball courts.

In what was hailed a “terrific transaction”, a small corner of land at Esso House on Riverside Quay was granted to developers, who plan to turn the former home of ExxonMobil into a 30-storey commercial building.

In return, the council have been granted 1000 sqm of space it planned to transform into publicly-accessible green space on the waterfront.

Planning chair and deputy mayor Nicholas Reece said the 166 sqm council-owned corner of land “serves no purpose” and the transaction was a win for Southbankers.

“I can understand why at first blush some people, particularly residents, in Southbank might wonder why the city was going about transferring a 166 sqm portion of Riverside Quay to a private interest,” Cr Reece said at a February 23 council meeting.

“But of course, there is a very, very good policy reason for that.”

“Here we are in a city of over five million people — you don’t get more prime real estate, than absolute riverfront, right in the heart of the city, down on Southbank. Under this agreement, we’re going to see that 1000 sqm become new publicly-accessible open space which all Melburnians can enjoy. And I think that’s going to be a truly wonderful thing for the city. I’m really, really looking forward to the plans coming forward.”

The lack of open space in Southbank has long been an issue.

The suburb is the most densely-populated in Australia, and the dearth of nearby public areas has been the source of angst among local residents.

Greens Cr Rohan Leppert said the move was much-needed.

“From an environment portfolio perspective, the creation of new public open space in the densest part of the City of Melbourne is very welcome and exactly what our policy talks about.” 

However, nearby residents have already expressed concern about the planned development, which would double the current 15-storey building at 12 Riverside Quay.

Cr Leppert referenced the “hotly contested” debate at an October 13 Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting last year where some Eureka Tower residents complained about the daylight impact of the development, which would be set back by around 20 metres.

The final decision on the development will go before Minister for Planning Richard Wynne •