In 2019, as part of the Cremorne Place Implementation Plan (CPIP) managed by the the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA), the City of Yarra released a draft Streets and Movement Strategy for Cremorne.
Image credit: City of Yarra.
The consultants who helped prepare the draft were Martyn Group and Hansen Partnership. The document examined the existing conditions and identified opportunities for improvement.
Existing conditions
The document correctly identified zones of pedestrian congestion, and streets with high number of vehicle movements.
Image credit: CoY draft Streets and Movement Strategy
Image credit: CoY draft Streets and Movement Strategy
Guiding principles
The document proposed a set of principles to guide any redesign.
Image credit: CoY draft Streets and Movement Strategy
Next steps
The document didn’t actually propose any redesigns, instead it focussed on identifying the issues and proposing a framework for further analysis. The Cremorne Place Implementation Plan (CPIP) is still ongoing, and we look forward to the next set of documents for community consultation.
People need to be able to access each property in Cremorne, and need to be able to move around within Cremorne. We enable access and movement via footpaths and streets. However, if too many people are using our footpaths or streets at the same time, congestion can occur, which decreases amenity, access and movement. If we add 10,000 more people by 2030, either residents or workers, without changing how we design our streets, then we’re likely to see gridlock.
Also, if some people (e.g. drivers) are moving much faster than others (e.g. pedestrians or cyclists), then people can be injured in collisions or dissuaded from walking or cycling. In turn, this can increase the number of people who choose to drive, making access and movement worse for everyone.
To help better understand the issues around access and movement within Yarra, council published a background paper in 2015. It’s useful to read this background paper before developing ideas and solutions for how we can better enable everyone to access properties or move around in Cremorne.
Image credit: City of Yarra
The summary of the paper states:
Yarra has experienced significant change to become the place it is today. Yarra has adapted to influences and it has evolved, and it will continue to do so.
This paper raises a number of issues and questions for the People’s Panel to consider. Limited space in streets and roads, competing demands between transport modes, changing travel preferences and cost of infrastructure are all significant considerations in planning for access and movement in Yarra.
As is evident in this paper, urban planning cannot control all factors influencing development. For the People’s Panel to be successful it will be important to focus discussions on the factors that Council’s urban planning can influence. Ultimately the greatest impact will be achieved by addressing issues within Council’s influence and control and strongly advocating to State and Federal governments for public transport and active transport funding and action.
