Pocket parks, big parks, dog parks to pop up across Melbourne

Dozens of new parks will soon be appearing across Melbourne as part of a state government plan to make the city greener. Find out if your suburb is on the list.

Pocket parks will soon be popping up across Melbourne.

Twenty-five “patches of paradise” will be dotted across the inner city in a bid to add more greenery to high-density suburbs.

The parks will spring up in suburbs including Prahran, Richmond, Albert Park, ­Eltham and Bentleigh, but the exact sites have not yet been chosen.

A blitz on parks will also create or upgrade 16 dog parks across Melbourne, and introduce a “ring of new parkland across outer Melbourne”.

The five major new parks, in Officer, Clyde, Craigieburn, South Morang and Carrum, will cover the equivalent of 300 MCGs.

The parks will include new walking and cycling trails.

The state government announced the plan before the November election, and ­allocated $154 million in last week’s Budget.

The government will now work with councils to decide where to place the dog and pocket parks.

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the government might have to buy some land for the parks.

“Some of those pocket parks may require the purchase of some land but in others, it will be about the government identifying where public land already exists that can be converted into pocket parks,” she said.

“We are about looking for the best placed locations.

“This is not about compulsory acquisition.”

Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio at the new park in Williams Landing, which was built over a drain. Picture: Tony Gough

Ms D’Ambrosio said the new parks, particularly in Melbourne’s growing suburbs, would help to cement Victoria’s reputation as the garden state.

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“Wherever you might live, you will have easier, closer ­access to open green spaces,” she said.

The state Opposition’s Leader in the Legislative Council, David Davis, said a growing Melbourne needed more parks but that the open space also needed sufficient lighting and CCTV cameras.

“You can feel the congestion and you know that we do need more recreation areas,” he said. “But they have to be properly resourced and they have to be safe.”

THE GREEN PLAN

NEW MAJOR PARKS

Officer, Clyde, Craigieburn, South Morang and Carrum

NEW POCKET PARKS

— Two in each of the following electorates: Prahran, Richmond, Albert Park, Eltham and Bentleigh

— One in each of the following electorates: Footscray, Brunswick, Northcote, Williamstown, Essendon, Oakleigh, Caulfield and Ivanhoe

— Seven more yet to be decided

NEW DOG PARKS

16 dog parks across Boroondara, Brimbank, Casey, Darebin, Glen Eira, Hume, Kingston, Knox, Maribyrnong, Maroondah, Moonee Valley, Nillumbik, Port Phillip, Stonnington, Whitehorse and Wyndham councils.

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