City of Melbourne’s Open Space Strategy recommends exploring the expansion and redesign of Miles and Dodds Street Reserve to better serve the community’s current and future needs. As part of this process, we conducted a second phase of consultation to gather community feedback on the proposal.

The community was invited to review a draft concept plan—shaped by key themes from the first phase of engagement—and share their input through in-person pop-up sessions or an online survey on Participate Melbourne.

The second phase of community engagement ran from 8 July to 5 August 2024.

To connect with the community, we hosted two in-park pop-up sessions and shared information through signage, printed materials with QR codes linking to the Participate Melbourne website, and postcards delivered to over 5,000 properties.

Feedback was gathered via an online survey and in-person at pop-up events, ensuring inclusivity for those without internet access.

Throughout the second phase of engagement, we heard from a wide range of community members at the pop-up events in the park, and 113 people shared their feedback via the online survey on Participate Melbourne.

For more detailed information on who we heard from please refer to the community engagement summary report below.

We asked respondents whether they supported the plans to expand and improve Miles and Dodds. Fifty-three per cent of respondents did not support the plans, while 47 per cent did.

Generally, most people are supportive of Council’s strategic ambition relating to parks and city greening, with some positive feedback and enthusiasm received in response to the draft concept plan.

In response to the draft concept plan, we heard:

• A positive response from many local families who live nearby in residential apartments that do not have access to private open space within their properties.
• There is a lack of street lighting, particularly on the east bound section of Miles Street.
• The current network of parks in this neighbourhood is good but could be better.
• Exercise equipment for adults is missing in Southbank and that play opportunities could be better for families.
• People are looking forward to greening of the ACCA forecourt.

Below are some direct quotes from the feedback received in support of the draft concept plan:

• “I like the fact that you are trying to retain as many of the existing large trees as possible.”
• “I think that the propose green space will be a fantastic way to boost mental health, increase traffic to local shops and strengthen a sense of community in the area.”
• “Thanks for improving this park for local residents”

When compared to similar greening projects, an unusually high number of objections and negative feedback was received in response to the proposal and draft concept plan. Many residents and other community members shared frustrations with Council regarding the overall process. The road closure and loss of car parking is a very sensitive topic amongst locals. Some direct quotes from those who do not support the changes proposed in the draft concept plan are listed below.

• “Vital road infrastructure will be removed. Car spaces will be lost. I see no use for a tiny park when there are better options within 5 minutes walking distance”
• “With the council approving more high-rise developments in the area, this will result in increased motorist traffic and with less two-way roads, it will move more traffic to Coventry St. In peak time, it's hard enough getting out of this pocket, and this is going to make it worse.”
• “There are already significant green spaces in our area, namely the Botanical Gardens and Kings Domain only one block away.”
• “It will have a detrimental impact of the community with area for unwelcome lingering and the changes to the streets already limited parking and take way access to the area by changes to street.”
• “Unnecessary. will still “be a tiny space when there are more attractive open spaces elsewhere with better access, light and existing play equipment”.
• “It does not make sense to expand an area that is only used by suspicions adults after dark, it will only attract more of these persons and will reduce privacy, safety and security, not to mention loss of needed parking spots. Resources would be better used to expand Grant st. reserve for example.”
• “To give up a road and car parks including our privacies and safety will not be worth the rocks and logs. And the ugly power station will still be there including a street with car fumes blowing right into us when we sit there.”

On 18 March 2025, the community engagement summary and recommendation not to proceed with the project was presented to Future Melbourne Committee for consideration, and Council resolved to reopen consultation.

A third phase of consultation will start on 14 April 2025 – please follow this page to stay up to date with the latest information about the project.

An independent safety consultant is also reviewing the park and proposed changes to ensure the design includes best-practice safety measures to reduce anti-social behaviour.

The results of this further consultation and draft design concepts will be presented back to the 3 June 2025 Future Melbourne Committee meeting for decision.

As part of City of Melbourne's Open Space Strategy, there was a commitment to investigate the potential to expand the size of Miles and Dodds Street Park. The proposed plan was to create more local open space, improving its design and value to better cater to local recreational use and contribution to urban heat island effect mitigation.

In late 2023, Council invited community feedback on the proposal to expand Miles and Dodds Street Reserve, by discontinuing the east bound section of Miles Street and creating a larger green space for the community.

This first phase of engagement for the proposed expansion of Miles and Dodds Street Reserve ran from 6 November to 17 December 2023.

We collected feedback through:

• two in-person sessions in the park
• an online survey on Participate Melbourne (paper copies were also available during pop up sessions).

We also:

• distributed postcards to surrounding residents and businesses
• installed signs throughout the park with information about the proposal and a QR code linking to the Participate Melbourne survey.

To see a more in-depth breakdown of who we heard from, please see the full engagement summary report.

The engagement findings overall were supportive of the expansion project.

Of the 123 responses:

• 54 per cent supported the proposal
• 33 per cent did not support the proposal
• 11 per cent felt impartial or did not answer.

The feedback has been reviewed and summarised into the below themes.

Mixed views on greening in the area

We heard that participants are generally supportive of more greening in the neighbourhood and see the expansion of Miles and Dodds Street Reserve as a positive contribution to increasing green spaces for residents to enjoy. The benefits of increasing habitat and biodiversity for local wildlife was also frequently mentioned.

We also heard a positive response from many local families who live close by in residential apartments that do not have access to private open space in their properties.

Some respondents unsupportive of the proposal said the area has many parks within walking distance and is already well serviced with green space. Some respondents suggested improvements should be made to Sturt Street Reserve and Grant Street Reserve instead. Some participants said they have access to private open space and amenities within their complex, so they didn’t see a need for additional open space in the area.

Improve usability / access to local park

Participants told us they would visit the park more often if it was expanded and more accessible. Some participants said the space currently feels small and uninviting, and the proposed expansion would provide a new park for locals to enjoy.

Traffic

We heard support for changes to the road layout and parking as this will reduce traffic speeds and the likelihood and frequency of incidents at the intersection. Participants also acknowledged that the park expansion could encourage more local walking and cycling.

Some participants noted the proposed expansion may not address the existing traffic issues.

Local traffic speed, lack of signage, proximity of the park to the road are concerning to most participants who shared feedback about traffic. Multiple participants shared experiences of witnessing traffic incidents at the intersection of Miles and Dodds Street.

Parking

Some participants highlighted concerns about existing issues with the lack of parking in the area. These participants shared that they were not supportive of removing parking form the area because their guests struggle to find parking.

We also heard questions and concerns about:

• The size and amenity of the proposed expansion wouldn’t change the park’s limited usability.
• Potential increase in antisocial activity because of the park expansion.
• The cost of the proposed expansion.

Please see the Engagement Summary Report for a more in-depth breakdown of community feedback and findings.

Overall, most participants supported the proposal.

The outcome of this first phase of community engagement is to proceed with developing a draft concept plan, taking community feedback into consideration, with particular attention to concerns raised and experiences that inform the differing areas of community support.

During development of the draft concept plan, Council will explore design solutions that respond to the concerns raised around safety, traffic, parking and antisocial behaviour, along with other feedback themes received. The draft concept design will also be informed by an independent traffic impact assessment.

Additionally, based on community feedback about safety in the area, Council will determine how we can continue to improve safety with informed design. This includes direct engagement with the local Police.

The draft concept plan will be presented back to the community for further consultation later this year.