Melbourne Budget Puts Paid to Greenline Future Fears

Despite concerns Melbourne ’ s Greenline may be shelved, the city has kept the riverfront project without future funding confirmed in its 2025-26 Budget. The City of Melbourne adopted the $732.4-million Budget this week. Earlier this year, the council debated dropping the Greenline scheme as it had not been able to secure Victorian Government funding for the next stages. But Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece made it clear in Budget papers that the next three stages of Greenline would progress. There were no financial line items set against Greenline and its first stage, Birrarung Marr, is now expected to be completed by the end of this year. Quarterly reports showed that gaining permits from Melbourne Water had delayed Birrarung Marr. Other major projects included in the Budget are $35 million for the Queen Victoria Market redevelopment project, $154 million for community infrastructure and $5.3 million for the library of the Boyd Community Hub at Southbank. Delays with the Queen Victoria Markets project have been blamed on the timing of the Trader Shed redevelopment progress, while the City Road Masterplan was delayed as it waited for a $3.5-million federal grant. The council has now delivered $127.3 million of the previously budgeted $186.9 million (68 per cent) for the City Road Masterplan. The Budget sets aside $2.2 million for the Northern Undercroft plan at Southbank and $40 million over four years for the North Melbourne Community Hub. ▲ Render for the new food hall at the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne as part of its redevelopment. Residents have waited 12 years for the latter, according to Cr Philip Le Liu. While financial costs were not mentioned, a new City Square and the Kensington Community and Aquatic Recreation Centre were included in the Budget, and $44 million has been allocated for Greening the City of Melbourne and creating a ‘Garden City’. Rooftop gardens and other incentives for developers to add greenery to the design of their projects are part of that initiative. Cr Olivia Ball successfully moved an amendment to the Budget to resolve control and management issues around the land abutting the Moonee Ponds Creek. It included resolving the C417 Macaulay Planning Scheme Amendment to deliver flood management and open space at Kensington. ▲ Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece has promised that the Greenline project will be continued and completed. Of the 1559 Budget submissions received, 94 per cent were requesting more cycling infrastructure. In response, the council amended the Budget to include a $12-million allocation over the next four years. Crs Owen Guest, Rafael Camillo and Gladys Liu voted against the amendment, citing concerns about a lack of proper planning for implementing and addressing necessary safety upgrades and focusing on one mode of transport over others. Cr Le Liu abstained and raised concerns about how the council would continue to gain revenue as more carparks disappeared from the city, often with developers getting carparking requirements waived. “Carparking is the second biggest revenue for us,” Le Liu said. “How do we pay for a lot of other things that we do?” Cr Guest agreed. “If we continue down this path, this is the way that we will have an unsustainable Budget when it comes to the Melbourne City Council, and we won ’ t be able to provide the services and infrastructure that Melburnians need,” Guest said. Debt reduction was also on the agenda. The council plans to cut its debt from $212 million during 2025-26 to $61 million by the end of the 2028-29 financial year. It has a total operating expenditure of $578 million and a surplus of $150,000.

Melbourne Budget Puts Paid to Greenline Future Fears

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