Sally Capp under fire for breaking another promise

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has come under fire for breaking another promise to Melburnians, this time related to her $316m pet project to connect parks and open spaces.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp. Picture: Mark Stewart

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has quietly walked away from another promise she made to the community – this time on her pet project, the Greenline.

In December 2021, Ms Capp stated that the Greenline would provide an “uninterrupted” and “continuous 4km journey” along the north bank of the Yarra River.

However, the masterplan for the Greenline shows that the $316 million project still includes three major traffic intersections that pedestrians will be required to navigate.

The masterplan shows no indication of any infrastructure such as pedestrian bridges at the Spencer, King and Queens Bridge streets intersections.

It states the Spencer and King streets crossings will be relocated and upgraded to “provide a seamless transition” between parks. The Queens Bridge St crossing will be improved and upgraded.

The project promised to activate outdoor areas like Collins Wharf.

The City of Melbourne refused to answer questions about whether the Greenline would deliver on Ms Capp’s commitments to the community and provide an uninterrupted and continuous journey from Birrarung Marr to the Bolte Bridge.

Instead, a spokesman said further work would be done on design on future stages of the project.

“The Greenline Project Master Plan provides the framework to deliver this city-shaping project, and will be used to inform the future detailed design work for each precinct – including connections, crossings and infrastructure,” he said.

The project promises four kilometres of interconnected promenades, parks and open spaces.

“The Greenline Project will create four kilometres of interconnected promenades, parks, open spaces, native plantings, cultural activations between Birrarung Marr and the Bolte Bridge.”

Council Watch Dean Hurlston said the Lord Mayor had a credibility problem.

“Sally Capp is probably a nice person but Melburnians don’t trust her,” he said.

“This is a lord mayor that is desperate to look like she delivering something ambitious for the community – but what Melburnians really want is for the city to be cleaned up, safe and accessible.”

The Greenline was first announced by Ms Capp when she successfully ran for the 2018 lord mayoral by-election but major works are yet to start almost six years later.

Ms Capp quietly ditching her promise on the Greenline comes as her election pledge to create 80,000 jobs over four years is tens of thousands of jobs short and years late.

The project would activate parts of the Yarra River like Banana Alley.

Another high-profile election promise Ms Capp has failed to keep was her commitment to walk, cycle and take public transport to most meetings.

Instead, the Herald Sun revealed she racked up a bill of more than $30,000 in a year catching chauffer-driven limousines to appointments.

Ms Capp also failed to deliver on her promise to provide more support to local businesses by establishing a 30 per cent weighting for City of Melbourne-based firms in Town Hall’s procurement guidelines. Instead, a voluntary 10 per cent weighting was introduced.

Under Ms Capp’s leadership, the City of Melbourne also dumped the original plans for the first stage of the Southbank Promenade last year, to remove elements of the project that would reduce conflicts between cyclists and walkers. This was done without consulting the local community.