By Cara Waters
A key section of North Melbourne’s Errol Street could be closed to traffic and turned into a park under a plan being considered by the City of Melbourne.
The road between Queensberry and Purcell streets, outside the Courthouse Hotel, would be replaced with grass, trees, paths and park benches.
The City of Melbourne is considering closing Errol Street to traffic.Credit: Joe Armao
The plan has divided locals: some back the move to bring more green space to the area while others have raised concerns about the impact on businesses, traffic and parking.
The City of Melbourne, led by Lord Mayor Nick Reece, will consider the proposal at its Future Melbourne meeting on Tuesday night. Council management has recommended council approve proceeding with draft concept design development to close the street to traffic.
“The proposal aims to create a small local open space for gathering and socialising, with increased tree canopy to help cool the area,” the agenda states. “Located in a busy retail precinct just north of the commercial core, the space would enhance the shopping and hospitality experience, potentially increasing foot traffic and time spent in the area.”
Turning the road into a park would create about 1120 square metres of green space and result in the loss of eight parking spots.
Ryan Moses, one of the owners of the Courthouse Hotel, said he was a big supporter of closing the road.
“A desirable green and open space will draw more people into the area who will then flow into local businesses,” he said. “I look at the Sun Theatre precinct in Yarraville as a great example of this.”
Moses said many people already used the wide median strip in Errol Street as a park despite a lane of traffic and a bike lane either side, and closing the road would increase the amenity of the area at the same time as improving safety.
Ryan Moses supports the idea of closing Errol Street.Credit: Joe Armao
“Errol Street is an underperforming precinct and does not enjoy the same vibrancy as other inner-north high streets like Gertrude or Smith streets,” he said. “We need ideas like this to draw people in and keep them coming back.”
Sylvia Hungria, president of the North West Melbourne community group, said greening Errol Street would be a positive move for the suburb.
“On weekends, you’ll see loads of young people on Errol Street, sprawled out on the grass with their coffees, soaking up the sun,” she said. “We’re a bit short on proper green spaces around here, so sprucing up the tired bit of Errol Street could turn it into a real draw for locals and businesses.”
Hungria said there were some downsides, such as changes to traffic flow, and certain traders were worried about access to their shops and businesses, but she hoped the council would take these concerns on board and find ways to address them.
“Talking to locals, most are really excited about the project,” she said. “In a city like Melbourne, more green spaces are always a brilliant addition, and I reckon it’ll give a proper boost to the local economy.”
An artist’s render of the proposed park if Errol Street is closed to traffic. Credit: City of Melbourne
Kate Manley, manager of the Auction Rooms cafe, said closing the road would be a double-edged sword.
“It would bring in more community vibes, but then getting customers in and parking is a whole different thing,” she said. “I have seen it work really well in other cities, but it depends on how the community takes it on board.”
Josefin Zernell, a local resident and owner of Mork Chocolate, said the plan was a bad idea because there was green space on Errol Street already, with people using the median strip to have picnics and coffees.
“We strongly oppose plans that divert traffic, emergency services, customer and resident parking,” she said. “Proposals for the landscaping that only lead as far as to Auction Rooms will not offer more opportunities than what the area currently already has. We will see less destination visitors. It will also be harder to attract staff to work at our venue as parking will become an even harder task, if not impossible.”
Zernell said closing the road would hurt her business, and she was also concerned about safety because the park might attract “undesirable late-night lingering”.
“When you start putting park benches out and there’s not really patrolling happening any more, then you do have sort of those dark spots where loitering happens and there’s less visibility.”
A survey by the City of Melbourne had more than 1196 responses. Sixty-five per cent of respondents backed the closure of Errol Street, 26 per cent preferred the street stay as it is and 9 per cent preferred a partial closure so traffic could still pass through.
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