Thousands of people are moving into this area. Where’s the green space?

Thousands of people are about to move into new apartments in Macaulay, but they won’t have any green space to enjoy because the state government has spent years sitting on plans that would create new parkland.

Residents, developers and councillors are exasperated that plans to establish much-needed green space and safer pedestrian and bike paths near the Moonee Ponds Creek in the once-industrial Macaulay precinct in Kensington, which is part of the Arden-Macaulay urban renewal area, have not budged from government desks for five years.

Resident Adrian Jackson at Moonee Ponds Creek, with the Macaulay apartment construction behind him.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Critics say the government’s inaction is in stark contrast to its enthusiasm for approving apartment blocks in the area to help meet its ambitious housing goals. Last September, then-premier Daniel Andrews stood atop a new development in Macaulay to announce Labor’s much-anticipated housing statement to turbocharge residential development.

The Macaulay precinct was home to only 3100 people in 2016, but activity is now booming, and it is projected to have half of Arden-Macaulay’s predicted 2051 population of 20,000.

The precinct encompasses the lower reaches of Moonee Ponds Creek, where it curves beneath the CityLink tollway, wedged next to a bike trail and the Upfield train line, with its banks inaccessible for public use.

Adrian Jackson is moving into a Macaulay apartment block opening this month and is troubled by the concrete-laden, fenced-off creek.

Then-premier Daniel Andrews announces Labor’s new housing statement in September atop a building being developed in Macaulay.Credit: Elke Meitzel

“Anyone who rides along it knows it’s not green,” he said. “The state government needs to do the work to make sure a whole place is liveable, not just the buildings.”

The draft Moonee Ponds Creek Implementation Plan, which would revitalise the waterway and make its banks useable for the community, has not progressed for ministerial consideration since it was endorsed by the City of Melbourne in 2019.

In response to questions from The Age, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny’s spokesman said the implementation plan was critical to the delivery of projects in the creek corridor, and it was being reviewed by the Department of Transport and Planning.

But the council’s proposed Macaulay precinct structure plan, which outlines key changes to the Moonee Ponds Creek and identifies state land that could be repurposed for green space, has also not been moved forward by the planning minister since it was submitted two years ago. On Monday, after The Age’s questions, the draft was progressed by the minister to the next planning stage.

City of Melbourne councillors were incensed by a report tabled last month stating Lord Mayor Sally Capp wrote to government ministers on March 22 to convey concerns about inaction on Moonee Ponds Creek projects, but two months on, no responses had been received.

Councillor Rohan Leppert slammed the government’s inaction and said improving the creek was crucial for Macaulay to succeed.

“It’s beyond irresponsible and frustrating – it’s absurd,” Leppert said. “Every month that passes, with more apartments approved but no open space unlocked, just makes it more difficult and expensive to deliver [it].

“The former premier chose [Macaulay] as the site to announce Victoria’s housing statement for a reason. But good planning is more than housing supply alone.”

Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said the Moonee Ponds Creek had long been abused as an industrial drain and general dumping ground.

Closure of the Capital City Trail at the creek for a state project in 2019, with still no opening date in sight, spoke to the broader neglect of the waterway.

Reece said Macaulay was one of the fastest-growing and soon-to-be busiest parts of the municipality, making the lack of response from the state government “extremely frustrating”.

The City of Melbourne recently bought a privately owned warehouse site at the southern end of Macaulay to repurpose into a 3600 square-metre park, but the council also wants to acquire disused land belonging to VicTrack, a state-owned enterprise, closer to the construction activity. VicTrack has several creekside sites in the area.

An artist’s impression of the City of Melbourne’s vision for the Macaulay part of Moonee Ponds Creek.Credit: City of Melbourne

“Access to green open space is one of the defining features of Melbourne,” Reece said. “It is very challenging to retrofit green space into existing areas, so it’s important that we make the most of every opportunity we have … and the Moonee Ponds Creek is just that.”

The council also wants to build two creek crossings so cyclists can bypass roads and safely access bike paths, but this again requires state backing.

Kris Daff, managing director of developer Assemble, which has completed 73 apartments with another 561 on the way across three sites in Macaulay, said it was ridiculous that the state government had not yet enabled new parkland.

Daff said his company paid about $7000 per apartment in open space contributions, amounting to more than $4 million, and he wanted to see that money put to good use.

“There’s a chronic undersupply of open space in this area … and there’s a huge amount of population coming in a relatively short period of time,” he said.

“[The state government] should be doing whatever they can to support the City of Melbourne in delivering important open space.”

Dan McLennan, co-founder of Local, which is due to deliver 477 build-to-rent apartments in Macaulay this year, said green space should be developed in parallel with high-density housing. He called for state government leadership on the matter.

“Part of the fabric of any community is the local park you can take your dog to and go for a walk,” he said. “We would love for it to have happened by now or for more progress in realising the vision. The sooner it’s acted upon, the better.”

Kilkenny’s spokesman said moving forward with the draft plan would involve ongoing co-ordination with agencies and stakeholders, including the City of Melbourne, due to complex ownership and management arrangements along the creek.

The spokesman said the government regularly met with the City of Melbourne to work through complex matters and projects, including at Macaulay.

A VicTrack spokesman said its operation sold and leased land it did not need to reinvest funds into public transport, and part of one of its sites in Macaulay was used by Vision Australia for training guide dogs.

“VicTrack continues to work with the City of Melbourne on potential uses of land along Moonee Ponds Creek.”

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