A tale of two consultations

This month’s column is largely a tale, not of two cities, but of two City of Melbourne consultations.

The first is the latest stage in the Parkville Gardens Pedestrian and Road Safety Survey process.

After the initial consultation and a second step inviting feedback on proposed measures, residents were invited to attend an in-person discussion on July 22 about council recommendations.

Two council traffic engineers, two consultants and our Neighbourhood Partner Nas Mohammud attended, but disappointingly only three residents. Perhaps the combination of a winter’s weeknight and an off-site location (the renovated Brens Pavilion) discouraged more attendees. Parkville Gardens Residents’ Association (PGRA) also has a communication challenge to which I’ll return.

Nonetheless the discussion was constructive and free ranging. It will contribute to the prioritising and implementation of such measures as raised pedestrian crossings, road and bicycle lane marking, speed humps and intersection improvements.

The possibility of making part of Cade Way one way remains open, while tackling the off-site Park St/Fleming St intersection is a much more ambitious project that won’t be happening any time soon.

In general, it’s interesting to discover that what seems an obvious remedy to any given problem often has unforeseen consequences.

The Royal Park Master Plan team led by Alicia Otto presented an update on its work to the Future Melbourne Committee on August 5.

The widespread feedback from previous steps in the consultation process identified a number of devilish dilemmas. A couple of examples will have to suffice.

How to balance the demand for sporting facilities with the desire to maintain Royal Park as a haven of passive recreation? How to enhance lighting for safety’s sake with the park’s wildlife's need for darkness?

To advance the cause, the team has recommended the engagement of an external landscape architect to review progress and reformulate the master plan for further consultation with the community and endorsement by the council. It’s expected that it will now take until June 2026 for the plan to be finalised.

One of PGRA’s biggest challenges (apart from grant applications) is how best to communicate effectively with our residents. Our regular channels are the two noticeboards, posts on the local Facebook page and this monthly column.

Specific events are also publicised with flyers letter-boxed to every household and posters displayed around the place. We need to do better with our general communication.

We’re aiming to get our website back in working order, and we need to be more social media savvy. Bright ideas on that front are welcome via [email protected] or [email protected].

Planning for our next event later in the year (originally imagined for October) has run into some scheduling issues, so further information will have to wait until next month, sorry! On a cheerier note, it’s great to see increased patronage on our 505 bus service. More frequent busses make for more (and happier) passengers! •