The conversation
Targeted stakeholder engagement was undertaken to inform the Elizabeth Street Strategic Opportunities Plan. This involved consulting with directly impacted individuals, groups and government agencies, as well as residents, businesses and building owners around Elizabeth Street (Flinders Street to La Trobe Street).
Timeline of engagement
We began with targeted stakeholder engagement for the south-end of Elizabeth Street. This included:
- Door knocking businesses and residential blocks in the area and distributing fact sheets.
- Gathering feedback through an online survey on the Elizabeth Street Participate Melbourne page.
- Holding project briefings with key government, business and community representatives.
The south-end concept design was endorsed by Council and the design was released via the Elizabeth Street Participate Melbourne page.
We held a community information session about the Elizabeth Street South design, road closure and delivery plans.
Key ideas from the draft Elizabeth Street Opportunities Plan, concerning the broader street, were shared with targeted stakeholders through:
- a mail out and door knock to addresses along Elizabeth Street (Flinders Street to La Trobe Street)
- government agency sessions
- community session with Elizabeth Street owners/occupiers
- face to face meetings.
We created a pop-up park at the southern end of Elizabeth Street from December 2017 to March 2018. The pop-up park piloted some of the ideas in the plan and successfully improved the appearance, amenity and character of the south-end of Elizabeth Street. There were some behavioural issues at night, which have been noted and will be managed as part of the final proposal, but generally the pop-up was well received and enjoyed by thousands of visitors, workers and local residents.
Key issues and ideas on walking, city space, bicycles and vehicles were shared with the community, who were given the opportunity to contribute to conversation about transport and our city streets.
Read more about the Discussion Papers and what we heard.
The permanent creation of new public space in the south-end section was postponed due to adjoining construction works to extend a building at 276 Flinders Street.
Follow-up sessions with key stakeholders was undertaken. These sessions gave updates on additional work completed in response to concerns raised throughout the engagement last year.
Information included additional movement surveys, detailed traffic modelling and a revised proposal.
The draft Transport Strategy 2030 was endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee. The strategy outlines the City of Melbourne’s policy directions for the next ten years with a vision for a city that is safe, liveable and prosperous for all Victorians.
Read more about the draft Transport Strategy 2030.
The Elizabeth Street Strategic Opportunities Plan outlines an exciting framework and vision. The plan extends Melbourne’s retail precinct and significantly transforms the safety and amenity of the street to support economic prosperity.
Elizabeth Street pop-up park over 2017/18 summer
What we heard
The draft plan received positive responses for the footpath widening, tree planting and bicycle paths together with concerns about potential traffic impacts.
In response, an updated traffic assessment of the proposed reconfiguration of Elizabeth Street including detailed SIDRA modelling was completed by consultants to address concerns raised. The assessment confirmed that the plan will have insignificant impact on traffic on the surrounding road network.
The findings from the Transport Discussion papers have also informed these streetscape opportunities.
The pop-up park at Elizabeth Street South was successful and the ideas trialled from the plan were generally well received by the community.
