Cremorne Community Inc. - An incorporated Association .

Back in 2015 The Age published a research study conducted by Deloitte Access Economics and Tract Consultants that ranked every suburb in Melbourne by a set of criteria that contributed to ‘liveability’. Along with a long list of rankings from 1 to 321, there was a nice colour-coded map that graphically showed how each suburb fared. It predictably showed lots of deep blue ‘Liveable’ suburbs close to the city with to the less liveable yellow, orange and red suburbs further out, particularly in lower socio-economic regions.

Cremorne showed up quite distinctly on the map as an island of yellow in a sea of blues and greens, A strange anomaly smack in the middle of the city.  Cremorne was ranked 135, between Cheltenham and Braybrook. The rest of Richmond made it to 67. Most of the rest of Yarra fared better again: Collingwood at 60, Abbotsford at33, Carlton at 15.

The criteria to determine these rankings included all the things that make inner city suburbs attractive places to live – public transport, shopping, cafes, restaurants etc.  Cremorne shares all these attributes with the rest of Richmond. The key aspects that it would appear to fail on is ‘public open space’ and ‘tree cover’. ‘Road congestion’ might be another factor though there is plenty of that in the rest of Richmond.  Planning for appropriate green, open public space in Cremorne has been neglected

(Ref: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbournes-most-liveable-suburbs-and-a-little-secret-revealed-20151105-gkrg7i.html )

I’ve lived in what is now called Cremorne for over thirty years and have seen a great deal of change in the neighbourhood. There has never been much evidence of careful urban planning, apart from a progressive encouragement to include commerce and industry, which has led to an eclectic mishmash of character, uses and architecture.

These days what was once a depressed industrial backwater inhabited by psychopathic drug lords is now a funky design precinct where creative industry and young hipster families are eager to move in.  It is now seen as a desirable suburb close to the CBD with its own distinctive vibe.  This means more people in the streets, both workers and residents.  Also, the roads are now properly paved (mostly), there are more street trees and there’s a bit of extra street-scaping on Balmain St. However, overall public space, if anything, has shrunk.

Cremorne is now increasingly attracting more and larger developments for people to live and work in. Should we be seeing greater Council and developer contributions to public open space for the area?