Project Overview
The draft Yarra Park Master Plan proposes a series of both individual and interlinked projects to ensure the park’s longevity in both its use and function. These projects aim to improve safety, protect and enhance the avenues of trees, make the park’s spaces more functional, and recognise the park's important significance of place. It also identifies a series of other opportunities that might not result in immediate physical changes to the park, but that once complete will provide important guides, strategies and frameworks for the use and maintenance of Yarra Park in the future.
We are now seeking your feedback to help us finalise the draft Yarra Park Master Plan.
Background
Yarra Park is one of Melbourne’s premier public parklands, located within the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct and adjacent to the Melbourne CBD. Home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Punt Road Oval, it is an integral part of Melbourne’s Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Together, the parkland and surrounding facilities provide important social, economic and environmental benefits to Victorians.
Yarra Park holds significant indigenous cultural heritage and is noted for its landscape and sporting heritage. It was included on the Victorian Heritage Register in April 2010 in recognition of its cultural importance.
The previous Yarra Park Master Plan was completed in 2010 when the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) took over management of the Park.
The Master Plan is incorporated into the Melbourne Planning Scheme (the Planning Scheme) providing for all land in the Master Plan area to be used and developed in accordance with the specific controls and conditions. The Minister for Planning is the Responsible Authority for the area.
The Master Plan does not affect the MCG or Punt Road Oval, which are bound by other approvals and planning processes.
As part of its responsibilities and to guide future landscaping improvements in Yarra Park, the MCC is now refreshing the 2010 Master Plan to guide the next 10- 15 years.
How did we get here?
The draft Yarra Park Master Plan has been prepared with extensive input from stakeholders and the local community. Since 2023, over 500 people have provided feedback through community pop-ups, workshops, interviews, emails and an online survey.
The development of the Master Plan began with a detailed review of the challenges and issues experienced by both users of Yarra Park, and the MCC as caretaker of Yarra Park. These issues covered a range of functional, operational and managerial concerns, and formed the beginning of the opportunities to be considered for consultation.
During the first stage of consultation, participants were presented with a series of ideas for improving Yarra Park and asked to rank them based on their importance, along with opportunities to suggest other ideas. The top five improvement ideas identified by participants were:
- Improve pathways for pedestrians and cyclists
- Improve lighting for evening use of the Park
- More public toilets/upgrade toilets
- More tree planting/improve condition of trees
- Improve paths/facilities for people with mobility restrictions.
The output from this consultation was a draft set of Master Plan opportunities, grouped together under the four Master Plan themes of Parkland and Amenity, Safe and Secure Access, Heritage and Place, and Trees and Landscape. You can read the Engagement Outcomes Report (PDF).
The second stage of consultation involved targeted workshops and meetings with specialist consultants and key stakeholders to further refine these draft Master Pan opportunities to ensure that the projects identified were appropriate and genuinely deliverable.
The draft Master Plan
Through ongoing consultation with the Committee of Management, the local community, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, Heritage Victoria, other stakeholders, and technical experts, we have developed a Vision for Yarra Park and three overarching Master Plan principles. The Vision and principles will guide future management and underpin all future decision making for Yarra Park.
Key Components
Yarra Park, occupying the Traditional Country of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, has a rich Aboriginal Heritage. As the home of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, the park comes alive on event days. Thousands of fans from all walks of life will enjoy an enhanced experience as they come together, moving to and from the venue. On non-event days Yarra Park will continue to provide a peaceful retreat from the city, a space for visitors and neighbours to play, share a quiet moment, or simply pass through this Culturally Significant Landscape.
Celebration
Yarra Park will be a place that honours and celebrates the connections between country, culture, and history, while also serving as a vibrant space for community celebration and gathering.
Universal design
Yarra Park will meet the functional needs of all people by providing accessible, inclusive, safe, and well-maintained facilities, enhancing its features without compromising its essence.
Landscape
The landscape of Yarra Park will be preserved and enhanced, ensuring the ongoing historical character of the park, defined by remnant and newly planted indigenous vegetation, open spaces and historic tree-lined avenues.
The draft Yarra Park Master Plan opportunities have been grouped together under the four Master Plan themes of Parkland and Amenity, Safe and Secure Access, Heritage and Place, and Trees and Landscape. For more detail on the opportunities for each of these themes please view the Draft Master Plan.
Parkland and Amenity
The Parkland and Amenity theme captures the elements of the space that cater to the park being just that, a park. The opportunities identified under this theme would make understated improvements to how the park functions for everyday users – things like legible signage, comfortable park furniture that is universally accessible, better utilities infrastructure, and a better-quality northern recreation space. The opportunities proposed are not designed to change the nature of Yarra Park, but they will result in functional improvements.
Access and Safety
The safety and security of park users on both event and non-event days is a high priority. The opportunities in the Safe and Secure Access theme aim to provide a framework for a range of safety and access improvements. The opportunities that have been identified cover a broad range of areas including improving lighting at night-time, adding bicycle and micromobility parking, and making sure the G-Train functions in a way that can assist as many people as possible.
Heritage and Place
Yarra Park occupies the Traditional Country of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung. Aboriginal cultural heritage intersects with European heritage in Yarra Park, and the Master Plan aims to appropriately recognise and celebrate this important history.
Yarra Park is host to one of the most iconic sporting grounds in Australia, the MCG. Yarra Park and the MCG are intrinsically linked. While the MCG itself is out of scope of the Master Plan, the opportunities aim to create a seamless design solution that considers the values of both spaces.
Trees and Landscaping
The landscape character of Yarra Park is a big part of what makes the park so special. Open paddocks are set against tree lined avenues, creating a simultaneous sense of openness and enclosure. The trees within the park – both the elms that line the park’s avenues and remnant Indigenous vegetation including scarred trees – contribute to the park’s essence.
The opportunities identified under the Trees and Landscape theme aim to protect the landscape character Yarra Park. There is recognition however, that a proactive approach to the management of trees and landscape is required in the face of climate change, and this is reflected in the opportunities presented.
Implementation
The Yarra Park Master Plan 2025 represents the MCC’s intent to deliver the identified opportunities, subject to available funding and resources. It is possible that opportunities may not be delivered in the timeframes or in the order identified in the Master Plan. Some opportunities may be delivered in stages.
The Master Plan aims to streamline the planning approvals process for future works. However, other approvals processes will still apply, including:
- Cultural Heritage Management Plans for specified works under the Cultural Heritage Act 2006.
- Approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.
For some opportunities, engagement with relevant state government departments and City of Melbourne will be required. Many of the identified opportunities will require detailed design. The Incorporated Document sets out further detailed design and submission requirements for specific opportunities.
All future works will be underpinned by the Master Plan’s principles: celebration, universal design and landscape.
Planning Scheme Amendment
In seeking planning approval for the Yarra Park Master Plan 2025, a Planning Scheme Amendment request will be made to the Minister for Planning to amend the Melbourne Planning Scheme to replace the Yarra Park Master Plan 2010 with the new Master Plan. The amendment request would seek approval to:
- Insert a new Specific Controls Overlay (SCO) at the schedule to Clause 45.12.
- Modify the schedule to Clause 72.04 to include the Incorporated Document titled ‘Yarra Park Master Plan, 2025’.
- Delete references to the previous ‘Yarra Park Master Plan 2010’ and its associated Incorporated Document.
The required statutory documentation has been drafted and can be reviewed alongside the draft Master Plan and supporting reports.
Next Steps
We will review the feedback received during consultation and make any necessary changes to the Yarra Park Master Plan 2025. Once finalised, the Master Plan, together with the suite of supporting reports and draft statutory documentation will be submitted to the Minister for Planning as part of a Planning Scheme Amendment request later this year. If approved, the amendment will be gazetted in the Melbourne Planning Scheme.
Questions?
If you have any questions regarding the Yarra Park Master Plan, please contact our team.
