Melbourne council announces plans to replace carpark with open space on crowded Chapel Street
Updated
A $60-million multi-functional park in Prahran, which the City of Stonnington has compared to Federation Square in the CBD, will provide desperately needed open space in Melbourne's inner south-east, the council says.
Under plans unveiled by the council, a 9,000-square-metre carpark in one of Melbourne's most densely populated suburbs will be transformed into a park.
The announcement comes as Melbourne grapples with an increasing population, housing affordability issues and an increase in apartment living.
The municipality of Stonnington has the second lowest amount of open space per capita in Victoria.
Plans for the park, to be known as Cato Square and located near Prahran Market, will include a water feature, green zones, cafes and nine separate spaces for communities to gather.
City of Stonnington Mayor Jami Klisaris said the project was part of the council's plan to cope with a further increases.
"As our population is expected to increase by 30,000 people over the next 15 years, creating more open space now is vital to protecting our community's future liveability," she said.
Due for completion in 2019, it will be built at ground level, with the carpark to be moved underground and expanded from 100 to 500 parking spots.
The council did not rule out charging for parking at the new site.
A seven-week community engagement process began on Sunday and the council said the project was fully funded by a combination of council funds, borrowings and contributions generated by the new facility.
Melbourne's overall population is projected to increase from 4.5 million to eight million by 2051.
Last week, the State Government announced changes to the planning scheme, including lifting the cap on the number of houses on a single block, drawing criticism from the Opposition for encouraging high density living.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, community-and-society, local-government, government-and-politics, environment, environmental-policy, prahran-3181, vic, melbourne-3000
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