In 2021, the City of Melbourne purchased 70-90 Chelmsford Street in Kensington for the purpose of creating more public open space for the community.

From 9 November 2023 to 8 January 2024 we asked for feedback on our proposed vision for the new Chelmsford Street Open Space.

The Chelmsford Street Open Space will replace an existing warehouse to provide a place for the community to relax, exercise, play and connect with nature.

To provide a precinct that celebrates place, ecology and community, we will be incorporating Bent Street and the Moonee Ponds Creek edge as a part of our design development for the Chelmsford Street Open Space, ensuring these sites can be integrated when they are delivered in the future. The designs for Bent Street and Moonee Ponds Creek will be guided by previous work and community engagement undertaken during the Macaulay Structure Plan development, and we would like to know what else you think should be considered as part of the project.

We know this area of Kensington has been subject to significant flooding. Stormwater and flood management will be a key component of the Chelmsford Street Open Space project to complement the future functions of Bent Street and improvements to Moonee Ponds Creek.

Select the icons on the map to find out more about the project location and scope.

• Reflect Traditional Owner voices, culture and connection to Country.
  
• Acknowledge the evolving story of the creek, past and present and establish a new direction for the future by revealing and unpacking layers of time, landscape and community.
• Offer diverse experiences, providing opportunities for play, exploration, gathering and reflection.
• Provide refuge and respite for human and non-human communities and become a robust ecosystem that enables social and environmental resilience for the future.
• Become a new heart for the Kensington community.
• Create a place of belonging, learning and local custodianship to shift our relationship with the landscape to become one of care and connection to nature.

The location of the Chelmsford Street Open Space provides a unique opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Traditional Owners' connection to Moonee Ponds Creek.

This poem titled Ripples of Life – Moonee Moonee was created to illustrate the layers of history and cultural significance of where this future open space will be. The intent of the poem is to highlight the importance of the creek and the life that it brings. We thank Aunty Gail Smith from the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation for providing the title of this poem.

An accessible text version of the poem is available.

• Acknowledging Traditional Owners:
  Reflect Traditional Owner voices, culture and connection to Country.
  
• Storytelling and history:
  Acknowledge the evolving story of the creek, past and present and establish a new direction for the future by revealing and unpacking layers of time, landscape and community.
• Activities for everyone:
  Offer diverse experiences, providing opportunities for play, exploration, gathering and reflection.
• A place for people and animals:
  Provide refuge and respite for human and non-human communities and become a robust ecosystem that enables social and environmental resilience for the future.
• A place for the community:
  Become a new heart for the Kensington community.
• Connecting with nature:
  Create a place of belonging, learning and local custodianship to shift our relationship with the landscape to become one of care and connection to nature.