Tree plan riles up residents in tight street

Tree plan riles up residents in tight street
Brendan Rees

A “street greening” proposal to transform the streetscape of a narrow North Melbourne street has drawn strong criticism from locals as it could result in the loss of parking.

The City of Melbourne has released plans to introduce 16 medium size trees and biodiverse garden beds “to improve the look, environment and liveability” of Little Baillie St under its Urban Forest Strategy.

Under the proposal, the trees would be planted in tree plots next to the footpath in the one-way street with the aim of creating more summer shade, reduce traffic speed, and “mitigate the urban heat-island effect”.

It also pledges a “long-term benefit to the community” with trees helping in the “natural absorption and filtration of storm and rainwater.”

The plans propose to use a tree species called Black Tupelo, a deciduous tree that grows to 20 to 25 metres tall. It also has dark green leaves in summer and a glowing orange red and yellow colour in autumn.

But according to the plans, the project would result in the “repurposing” of four parking spaces to make way for the trees and understorey species, which has riled up some residents and business owners who say parking was already scarce.

There are currently 23 parking spaces Little Baillie St but residents with parking permits said this was not enough and were often forced to park up to 200 metres away.

“I come home from work for lunch and I frequently can’t find a park and will often park on Arden St and walk all the way back around,” resident Sarah Dower told North West City News.

“The parking time limits are not enforced in the street,” she said, pointing to a van that had been moved twice in a week.

“It’s a tiny little laneway street … if you narrow that more with trees it’s going to restrict access.”

Ms Dower said she was left further confused after speaking to the council who told her the trees had been proposed because there had been reports of “traffic driving really fast” near a tyre shop at Abbotsford Street.

“They don’t seem to have consulted residents in the actual street before they’ve put this plan in place,” she said.

Jenny Johnson, a resident of 27 years, was furious with the plans, saying she “would rather nothing” as she struggled to find a park, and was concerned about the possibility of tree debris impacting stormwater drains.

The owner of Prorepair Auto Care Centre, Menka Michaelides, whose shop backs onto Little Baillie St, said, “Love the greenery, don’t have an issue with it, but I think if they’re going to remove car parks I think the council needs to come up with a better way.”

However, some business owners such as Andrew McSweeney from the School of Music, praised the proposal saying, “we’ve got to give priority to trees” to keep up with development.

Another business owner said it was a “great idea” but believed the balance of planting new trees and keeping car spaces “might be difficult to design around”.

The City of Melbourne has invited locals and the surrounding community to have their say on the draft proposal by July 25.

“The project team at the City of Melbourne has worked hard to assess the technical feasibility of this street greening proposal, undertaking soil testing, service proving and assessing traffic and parking to ensure the proposal is achievable,” a letter from the City of Melbourne to residents and businesses said •

New homes open in North Melbourne 

New homes open in North Melbourne 

March 13th, 2024 - Brendan Rees
Like us on Facebook