Melburnians love their Yarra River, but a city council plan for a $300m plus linear park on the north bank is irresponsible and a waste of ratepayer money.
Called Greenline, the project was a thought bubble by former lord mayor Sally Capp after she visited New York’s famous High Line Park. Now, High Line is a gem – a 2.33km green oasis created on a disused elevated rail line in the middle of the city.
Capp had visions of a Melbourne version built above the railway viaduct between Flinders St and Southern Cross stations, but you can’t do that over an active rail line. So Melbourne High Line became Greenline – a much more modest idea to link green spaces along the Yarra’s north bank that was a centrepiece of the Capp campaign at the 2020 council elections. Trouble is, Greenline is projected to cost a lot of money, cash that the City of Melbourne can hardly afford.
Yet, Capp’s former deputy and now successor, Lord Mayor Nick Reece, is pushing ahead with the plan despite its many flaws. Financially, Greenline doesn’t stack up and it has little support outside council. It was originally hoped the Victorian and federal governments would pitch in $100m each toward the $300m-plus estimated price tag. But the state is not interested, and the Albanese government has given only $20m to the project.
This leaves City of Melbourne ratepayers footing most of the bill, which is surely an underestimate given rising labour and material costs. Over the next four years the council is due to spend $35m on Greenline. This would be outrageous, especially as the council’s 2024-25 budget has a wafer-thin surplus of $101,000 and many deserving projects have not been funded.
Truth is, Capp’s passion project was never needed anyway because the council already had a plan to upgrade the north bank under the Yarra Birrarung Strategy, which I supported when I was deputy lord mayor. Greenline’s completed “floating wetlands” would have got backing under the river strategy, and Docklands’ new Seafarers Rest Park, which is supposedly part of Greenline, was approved by council before Capp dreamt up her project. Melburnians must be wondering why the council wants to spend scarce funds in a cost-of- living crisis.
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