Residents slam plans to turn green space on Alexandra Pde to a parking lot for new sporting centre

A state government plan to rip up green space on Alexandra Pde for a 79-space car park has been slammed by residents as “poor planning”.

Development Victoria plans to turn the green space between Alexandra Pde into a 79-space car park for the Bundha Sports Centre. Picture: Facebook.

A state government plan to rip up green space on Alexandra Pde for a 79-space car park has been slammed by residents as “poor planning”.

As part of the Fitzroy Gasworks redevelopment, Development Victoria has built the Bundha Sports Centre and, in conjunction, plans to build a 79-space car park on Alexandra Pde’s green median.

The project, set to begin in late 2024, was approved by Yarra City Council in May.

The median strip — a narrow stretch of greenery — serves as a natural divider along the busy road and is one of the few green spaces in the densely populated Fitzroy.

Development Victoria plans to turn the green space between Alexandra Pde to a 79-space parking lot for a new sporting centre. Picture: Google Maps.

Local resident Mark Purvis said it was “disappointing” and “silly” that the government wanted to “rip up green grass” for a car park, especially “in the current climate”, with a push to be environmentally conscious.

Mr Purvis said he believed the planners had not “properly” planned for the new sporting facility.

“It smacks of bad planning because it proves they haven’t allowed for sufficient parking on site,” he said.

Protect Clifton Hill spokesman Mark Purvis. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Purvis said even though the new car park would be “unsightly compared to the green,” he believed the bigger issue was the car park contributing to traffic and pedestrian safety issues.

“It’s supposedly carparking for a sports centre, so it’s going to be used by a lot of kids and young people,” he said.

“And in order for them to get to the sports centre, they’re going to have to cross Alexandra Pde.”

Another resident, Maria Lammerding, said turning the green space on Alexander Pde was a “terrible idea”.

“You want to add construction delays and then parking lot ins and outs? How on earth is that going to work in a logistic sense?” she said.

Ms Lammerding also questioned why the plans for the new sporting facility did not take parking into consideration before the centre was built.

“There should have been parking built into the building plans,” she said.

“Getting rid of green space is not how you build communities, even if it is a space between lanes. Nobody wants that space gone.”

However, co-founder of Yarra Resident Collective Adam Promnitz said he supported the development of the car park on the median strip of Alexandra Pde because it would keep traffic off local streets.

Yarra Residents Collective co-founder Adam Promnitz. Picture: Supplied.

“The reality is, without that space being used as a car park, we’re just going to have users of the Gasworks site flood local areas with parking,” he said,

“It’s going to make it much harder for residents — you’ve got to have a parking lot somewhere, and it’s the least bad of all the options.”

Development Victoria’s Ronan Mellan said the new car park would accommodate visitors who needed to travel by car and minimise any impact on the residents by getting vehicles off local roads.

“We’re transforming the site of the former Fitzroy Gasworks into a thriving new precinct with more affordable and sustainable housing, a first-class sports centre and public spaces for everyone to enjoy,” he said.

The City of Yarra was contacted for comment.