Streets Alive Yarra offers the following feedback, regarding some of the items on the agenda.
7.1 Adoption of Linear Park Masterplan
Streets Alive Yarra is disappointed that two items were not progressed within the Linear Part Masterplan, namely:
- Implementation of high-quality cycling infrastructure along Park Street, to encourage commuter cyclists to travel on-road, instead of on the shared path
- Expansion of the Linear Park across Amess Street (400 m2), Rae Street (800 m2), Brunswick Street North (800 m2), and Bennett Street (800 m2)
With this context, we support Officer recommendations to pursue them at a later stage:
7.3 Community Engagement Policy Review
Streets Alive Yarra supports endorsing the draft for community engagement. We point out that, broadly speaking, the draft is much the same as before, except ‘we’ll try harder’. Yarra has a population of 100,000 people, and many engagements receive only a couple of hundred responses, i.e. 0.2% of the population. Instead of continuing with business as usual, we suggest that Council try something different, something that has at least a chance of obtaining responses from 10% of the population, such as a City of Yarra smartphone app that uses ‘red dot’ notifications to attract people’s attention and invites them to respond. As described in that link, residents and ratepayers would be interested in installing the app because it would offer access to a wide range of council services.
7.4 Advocacy Roadmap 2025-29
Streets Alive Yarra recommends that the advocacy roadmap be expanded to include:
- Upzoning around Victoria Street, so that many more people can live within walking distance of local shops, thus enabling long-term revitalisation
- Upgrading the Roseneath Street Bridge, which forms part of a Strategic Cycling Corridor, from 2.1 m to 4.0 m wide, matching other shared user path bridges on Strategic Cycling Corridors
- Return revenue from the congestion levy, that was raised within the City of Yarra, back to Yarra, either as direct grants for improvements to infrastructure for walking and biking, or as investments in level access tram stops
7.3 Draft Ageing Well Policy
Streets Alive Yarra supports endorsing the draft for community engagement. We’re heartened to see the draft propose advocating to other levels of government for improvements to the local transport network, and even better would be to commit Council to doing that itself. For example, apart from footpaths, Council can also deliver an integrated network of wide, protected bike lanes (many older people are more comfortable e-biking than driving), and 30 km/h zones.
7.8 2025/26 Quarterly Report – Quarter One
Streets Alive Yarra is pleased to see that Council has acknowledged that the whole of Yarra should be considered as an activity centre, which means we need to design our streets as such, ensuring that every property can be safely accessed by all modes of transport, including walking and biking. Designation as an activity centre justifies wider footpaths, 30 km/h zones, modal filters, better parking management, and a cohesive network of protected bike lanes.
For the trial of one-hour free parking, we recommend that Council publish the metrics that they are using to monitor the trial, and the baseline, i.e. pre-trial, values of those metrics. Publishing that data would demonstrate Council’s commitment to transparency and open data.
We’re pleased to see that a draft of the Kerbside and Parking Strategy will be available by mid 2026. As Yarra’s population grows to almost double by 2050, and access to public space becomes even more contested, this strategy will be core to Council’s work.
7.11 Response to NOM Road Fatality & Injury Data
Streets Alive Yarra supports the Officer Recommendation to include road fatality and injury data in Quarterly Reports, noting that it’s obviously very sad news to see so many deaths or serious injuries occurring on roads within Yarra, despite most of them being preventable via better street design.
Published 9 November 2025