Rundown corners of the city to become parks under lord mayor’s re-election plan

The Banana Alley vaults next to Flinders Street station will be among the neglected parts of the city to become new parks if Nick Reece is re-elected as Melbourne’s lord mayor next month.

As part of his bid for the top job, Reece has declared he would invest $40 million to deliver an extra 10 new parks across the City of Melbourne, on top of 18 that have already been committed to by the council.

Reece said his “Garden City” plan was the biggest commitment of his campaign.

“Parks and gardens are such an important factor of what makes Melbourne special,” he said.

In the CBD, Reece wants to prioritise the creation of a linear park outside the heritage-listed Flinders Street Station vaults on Banana Alley, a strip opposite the Yarra River that is currently grey and car-heavy.

This was already planned as part of the Greenline trail, a $316 million project that was started by former lord mayor Sally Capp to build a four-kilometre park along the river between Docklands and Melbourne Park.

But this central portion of the trail was not financed, with the council’s May budget revealing that Greenline had no funding for its delivery over the next four years beyond the Birrarung Marr precinct.

Reece said he was determined to prioritise a facelift for the rundown riverfront section outside the Banana Alley vaults.

Located right in the heart of the city, Reece said the site should be one of the most popular and vibrant parts of Melbourne. Instead, it was “one of the saddest corners” of the CBD, he said.

“The Banana Alley vaults could very much be the jewel in the crown of Greenline,” Reece said.

“If we can turn it around as is planned, it will be one of Melbourne’s most visited locations.”

The Greenline project has become a key battleground of the election. While Reece has repeatedly defended the plan, rival candidate Arron Wood announced he would axe the trail’s delivery and redirect $19 million of allocated funding towards the creation of new parks.

Reece also plans to develop seven new pocket parks, the first of which would be in a square behind a well-known nightclub on Brown Alley, near the corner of King and Lonsdale streets.

Reece said the “forgotten square” needed investment to serve a densely populated part of the city.

“It could become the coolest square in Melbourne that rivals some of the best city squares in New York and London.”

The remaining six pocket park locations would be settled on after consultation, including two within Carlton and North Melbourne.

In Southbank, Reece believes the West Gate Freeway undercrofts are a key opportunity for green space and recreational activity, such as basketball and bouldering.

“The City of Melbourne has close to 20 kilometres of undercrofts, which are some of our worst examples of urban blight,” he said. “I want to convert these wastelands.”

He also committed to developing a park at the Moonee Ponds Creek in Kensington, a long-anticipated council project.

Reece also intends to make it easier for residents and business owners to decorate buildings, footpaths and laneways with plants, and he wants to make grants available for developing public rooftop gardens.

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