Miles and Dodds Street Reserve is noted as a very high priority in City of Melbourne’s Open Space Strategy, which recommends investigating the potential to expand the size of Miles and Dodds Street Reserve to “improve its design and value to better cater to local recreational use and contribution to urban heat island effect mitigation.” The Miles and Dodds Street Reserve expansion project would be delivered under Major Initiative 16, as part of the Pocket Parks program. Major Initiative 16 seeks to increase the amount of public open space in the municipality with a focus on areas of greatest need, such as Southbank and emerging urban renewal areas.

The current draft concept plan includes a total loss of four car parking spaces.

Initially the high-level concept plan outlined the loss of 12 car parks. However, we have heard concerns from the community regarding the loss of parking and have reviewed the plan to reduce this to a loss of four car spaces.

We will continue to try to bring that number down to net zero if the project progresses.

The proposal will make Miles Street between Dodds Street and Wells Street one-way, permitting only westbound movements.

Traffic travelling east along Miles Street would need to detour.

The traffic impact assessment concludes that the proposed removal of westbound traffic lanes on Miles Street between Dodds Street and Wells Street will not adversely affect the local road network.

Some motorists will be delayed if the proposal was implemented. The proposal will require motorists from the west attempting to access the eastern end of Miles Street to detour approximately 500 metres - two minutes of additional travel.

A road discontinuance is when the road or road reserve is no longer required as a road for public use.

To get a road discontinuance, a public notice process is required.

In this case, City of Melbourne is proposing a discontinuance to repurpose an area of the street to create a larger open green space.

If successful, the discontinued portions of road will then be reserved for public park as outlined in the draft concept plan.

Closing this small section of road and repurposing it to create additional public parkland will benefit the community and improve the amenity of the local area.

The reserve could be used for a range of potential activities such as relaxing, exercising, play and socialising. The types of amenities include a larger lawn area, additional trees and refreshed garden beds, seating and picnic tables, paths for pedestrians, and access to sunshine and shade. Early-stage design and feasibility investigations, and feedback from the community have determined that an expanded Miles and Dodds Street Reserve would not be a suitable location for a formal playground, BBQ or dog off leash area. Rocks and logs could be placed throughout the park to encourage informal play for young children and their families.

We consistently hear from Southbank residents that more public open space is required to support their health, wellbeing and enjoyment of their neighbourhood. While some apartment complexes around Miles and Dodds Street Reserve have great private open space, many residents and workers in the area do not have access to such areas, and Southbank overall has low provision of publicly accessible open space relative to other neighbourhoods. By expanding the Miles and Dodds Street Reserve, we will improve the park's capacity to serve the local community's needs.

The Miles and Dodds Street Reserve expansion project has an estimated budget of $2.52 million, which includes costs for feasibility, design and construction.

Pending community feedback on the project proposal, a final concept plan and summary of all feedback will be prepared and presented to Council for review early 2025. If approved, construction will commence in mid 2025.

Council officers have met with the Proactive Policing unit and the Neighbourhood Policing Coordinator specifically to discuss this project and in response to community concerns. There are no existing police reports from the community about the Miles and Dodds Street Reserve on the Community Issues Register. Leading Senior Constables indicated a willingness to attend future community engagements to talk to residents to better understand the concerns raised.

If community members witness or suspect local crime, they should make a report to Crime Stoppers or the local police. This will provide the police with a better understanding of local issues.

At this stage, we have no evidence to suggest that increasing the size of the park would increase anti-social behaviour. Like all City of Melbourne parks and open spaces, anti-social behaviour would be monitored, and action taken to address any issues arising.

The City of Melbourne Open Space Strategy has identified that more open space is needed in this area of Southbank to cater for residents and workers' needs.

Our planning for open spaces considers roads such as St Kilda Road and Kings Way to be significant barriers. Not everybody is willing or able to negotiate crossing such barriers to access parks and open spaces. This is why we plan for local parks to be within safe walking distance of residences and workplaces.

Increasing the size of Miles and Dodds Street Reserve would greatly improve local residents’ access to quality open space without needing to travel over 400 metres and cross major roads to access the parklands east of St Kilda Road.

Mid-last year, the Future Melbourne Committee endorsed the Parking and Kerbside Management Plan. This plan outlines our new, strategic approach to regularly reviewing and adjusting parking controls within a precinct, to manage parking demand.

Our approach is not to ‘set and forget’ parking in an area, particularly after a change within a street. It is a process of continual review and adjustment based on data and feedback from the community.

We are working through all of the neighbourhoods and improvements to parking across Southbank are currently being implemented.

You can follow the progress of our neighbourhood parking reviews and get involved by sharing your parking experience with us at any time.