What’s proposed?
The Developers of the Gas Works plan to convert the green and treed median between the east and west carriageways of Alexandra Parade into a car park for 78 car spaces with slip lanes.
Development Victoria publish a FAQ, but details are lacking
https://www.development.vic.gov.au/projects/fitzroy-gasworks/pages/faq
In May 2024 Council debated and issued a permit to construct the car park. The Agenda has the plans and details.
https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/about-us/council-and-committee-meetings/council-meetings/council-meeting-14-may-2024
Where is it?
The car park will run from Smith Street to George Street. On the other side of George St the median has been converted to a car park for the Fitzroy Pool. With the new parking, the entire length from Smith St to Napier Street will be car park. The proposed land is 5000sqm which is large enough for eight tennis courts.
What’s the Issue
The car park will reduce green open space in Fitzroy where it is critically low ; remove trees; increase the urban heat island effect; reduce the pollution and noise reduction benefits of the trees; weaken biodiversity; and increase emissions through loss of trees and inducements to drive. It is contrary to multiple policies of the City of Yarra, not least open space policy.
Out of 32 trees, “A Total of 27 trees may be impacted” [Agenda Report May 2024]. 9 trees will be removed, three of which are assessed as poor health. The remaining trees will have encroachments on their Structural Root Zone and or Tree Protection Zone. This includes the ‘moderate rated’ tree 2 (Yellow Box) and the ‘high rated’ 5 (London Plane) maturing tree, which will have six car parks under its canopy.
The developer is Development Victoria. The car park will mostly benefit the corporations developing housing on the former Fitzroy GasWorks. After spending $50m of public funds, the 4ha site has been handed over to the private sector. The off-site car park makes it more attractive to developers. There is a promise of 20% affordable accommodation being developed. Affordable housing tenants are less likely to drive or own cars.
What can I do to stop it?
There is a petition to oppose the proposal by the State Member for Richmond Gabrielle de Vietri (Greens).
https://gabrielledevietri.org.au/issue/save-the-alexandra-parade-median-strip/
The 3068 Group does not support the car park. We wrote to members about this in May 2024 when DV held a ‘consultation’. It seems that the consultation had little impact.
Development Victoria is not taking submissions or subject to any formal planning process. They are making use of the secretive planning system that the State Government has been building for a number of years to avoid independent review of planning decisions.
Our post from 2018 shows that very large trees have existed and continue to exist on the reserve, not just at the edges of the median but in the middle, close to the drain. This significant tree was destroyed by a contractor who severed the roots and made it unstable.
There are more significant trees on the median east of this site.
Parking
The developer says the reason for the parking is for users of the Bundha Sports Centre. This was built on land that was owned by the council and is now privately managed. No on site parking was provided despite the massive excavations. The business operating model for this centre relies of sports teams from a wide catchment to travel here for games, however the modern gym would mainly have local users. In the evenings, when the sports centre is active there is parking available at OfficeWorks and many streets have 4-hour parking. The Foundry development on the north-east corner of Smith and Alexandra has a permit for 341 spaces – if it goes ahead. There are also opportunities to provide parking in the Gas Works. There are a further thirty places on Napier Street opposite the triangle park. Napier has only seven houses on one side and some commercial properties. For a driver looking for parking, there will never be enough space close to the destination.
The Heat Island Effect
Converting green medians to hard surfaces and removing trees exacerbates the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE). This physical phenomena exacerbates the health effects of heat waves. Urban areas are much warmer than surrounding rural areas, particularly at night. Planting trees and other vegetation and reducing paving are the best ways to reduce the heat increase.
The open pit of the Gas Works the former industrial areas and the Queens Parade retail strip are 10°C hotter than rural areas – on average up to 2018. This compares with 6°C for Edinburgh Gardens where trees and grass predominate but the buildings and tennis courts add some heating.
Alexandra Parade is more complex to measure because the green median fights with the 6 lanes of bitumen and heating exhaust fumes. The highest is 10°C near Hoddle St on ramps and the coolest part of the parade is 8.25°C for the area proposed to be converted car park.
The Fitzroy pool is 8.54°C hotter than rural areas on average, so is not working as hard to cool the environment. It has 9 mature trees and lots of bitumen. Interestingly, the median west of the pool carpark is even hotter at 9.25°C despite two rows of mature trees. This may be because the median has been narrowed and the road widened here.
In Fitzroy, that old elms lining Napier, George and Westgarth St, work together with Smiths Reserve to reduce the heating by a full degree compared to Collingwood.
Data from Metropolitan Melbourne Urban Heat Islands and Urban Vegetation 2018, HEAT_URBAN_HEAT_2018
Published 06-07-2019 https://datashare.maps.vic.gov.au/
Ecological Corridors
This is one of the few places in Fitzroy where canopy trees can exist. Most of the trees being planted today will never be canopy trees. Fitzroy is seriously lacking in Open Space and Yarra can’t afford to buy any. The open space left over by the developers of the gas works is tiny.
The median is the largest open space in Fitzroy. The hairy leaves of the trees collect tiny particles of petrol and diesel exhausts.
Exposure to diesel exhaust particulates (DEP) is a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. DEP fine particles cause oxidative stress and systemic inflammation, which lead to heart disease, reduced lung function, and an increased risk of lung cancer.
It is worth researching how the Alexandra Parade median may work as a wildlife corridor for some species. Wildlife corridors are critical for biodiversity. Enhancing the corridors’ connectivity is worth aiming for as it isolated islands of species in reserves are more vulnerable to local extinction. The Alexandra Parade median can connect to Yarra Bend Park which is our best corridor.
Alexandra Parade was established in 1851 as a government road originally named after Melbourne City Councillor Francis Reilly. The parade evolved from a natural swampy watercourse that was formed into a major drain—the Reilly Street Drain—between 1856 and 1858 to drain the surrounding crown land and allow for urban development.
The car park is close to Smiths Paddock (Now Smiths Reserve), a former swamp next to the Fitzroy Pool.
Rudolf Jenny’s etching looking south from Queens Parade (then called Heidelberg Road)
about 1870. Reilly Street in the middle ground with the Gasometer Hotel middle right.
https://collingwoodhs.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Collingwood-History-Walk-2021-Notes.pdf
Thinking Big
Once North East Link opens how it change traffic flows on Alexandra Parade? Some vehicles may avoid it in favour of the North East Link, but the link and Eastern Freeway expansion will attract more traffic to the parade. The Big Build indicates a 3% increase in traffic on the parade by 2036 compared to not building the link – similar to Hoddle St.
The new busway along the Eastern Freeway won’t be able to service any new bus routes along Alexandra Parade as it diverts to Victoria Park beside Maugie Street Reserve (yellow line below).
A Linear Park
One of the reasons given to not save the green median is that the green space is not easily accessible to people, so is not high quality open space.
Rob McGauran, an urban design expert, suggested the westbound carriageway be moved next to the eastbound, creating significant open space and a linear park accessible to Collingwood and Fitzroy. It would also make it easier to cross the parade. If sufficient separation with the arterial road was achieved the noise and pollution may be manageable? This is already the case for Smith’s Paddock, a popular local park next to the pool. A linear park would connect from the Fitzroy pool and Smiths paddock to Collingwood.
Noise
Noise Score (as at May 2026)
https://daleads.com.au/map?score=noise#18.2/-37.793861/144.982176/0/50
There are no noise mitigations in place of Smith Reserve
The 3068 Group 