Council endorses final concept plan for new Chelmsford St park

Following two rounds of community consultation, the City of Melbourne’s plans for the transformation of a warehouse in the Macauley Precinct in Kensington into a green community space have been approved.

The plans for 70-90 Chelmsford St were presented at a Future Melbourne Committee meeting on August 20 and were approved with minor changes to include a potential mural and temporary steps over the levee wall.

A large lawn will be the centrepiece of the 3600sqm site, surrounded by nature and water play features, a basketball hoop, a tennis wall, BBQ and picnic facilities, a public toilet and seating areas.

The plans also feature 1100 square metres of garden beds with native plants and 120 new native and exotic trees.

Cr Davydd Griffiths said that although the site was a “very complex jigsaw of land,” the redevelopment was an important step for the growing Macaulay Precinct, which is situated across Kensington and North Melbourne.

“Through the work that is set out here and stretching out into the future, we can see that there is a large task before us,” Cr Griffiths said. “But I think if council continues to engage in the way that we have with the local community, we’re well placed to be able to put together a really important and exciting space for people of Kensington and for Macaulay as well.”

The council’s recent budget allocated $30 million to open spaces across the municipality, of which $8 million has been allotted to the Chelmsford St space.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece reiterated the importance of the project.

“It seems not a week goes by at council these days where Moonee Ponds Creek isn’t on the agenda, and rightly so,” he said. 

The Arden, Macaulay, Kensington precinct is one of the fastest growing areas in terms of population growth of anywhere in greater metropolitan Melbourne. And so, getting the Moonee Ponds Creek and the green spine that it represents through this rapidly growing area is absolutely critical.

The council purchased the Chelmsford St site in 2021.

The first round of community consultation regarding an open space at the site took place late last year and was followed by a second round of surveys starting in May 2024.

The surveys revealed that residents’ main concerns about the development were reduced parking and impacts on traffic flow on Bent and Chelmsford streets, as the draft plans had proposed the repurposing of seven parking spaces into garden beds.

Those plans are not part of the final concept plan and will not be delivered as part of this project.

The final concept plan was completed in late July, following consultation with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, the Disability Advisory Committee and the Melbourne Design Review Panel.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2025. •