Project Background
With support from the Victorian Government, Melton’s Town Centre has benefited from recent upgrades including a new playground, footpaths upgrades, street furniture, artworks and activities.
As part of the ongoing commitment to the Melton Town Centre Revitalisation, it is proposed to create four new high-quality public spaces for outdoor dining and social gathering along High Street, Melton.
These areas have been selected due to existing, nearby food outlets, for their potential to provide places for the community to spend time in the centre and allow traders to offer outdoor dining.
The project proposes the demolition of existing footpaths and sections of road near the footpath, construction of new paving, drainage, landscaping and street furniture.
Melton City Council developed draft concept designs for four new welcoming spaces on High Street, Melton.
Community Engagement Summary
Between 6 to 24 November, we consulted with the local community on these draft concept designs. Feedback was collected via an online survey which was promoted via a letter distributed to traders, social post, emails to stakeholders and signage at the sites.
For reach of the four proposed sites, we asked our community to rate the quality of the draft concept design and what feedback they had in support of the design or where there might be opportunities for improvement.
What's important when spending time in these spaces?
Rating on the quality of the draft designs
Feedback Summary and Response
The feedback on all sites indicated that safety, cleanliness, shade and spaces for outdoor dining were ranked as the most important aspects of what people wanted to see in these new outdoor spaces.
| What we heard | Council response |
| Wanting more trees and shade at the sites | The choice and placement of vegetation is designed to complement the outdoor social space and to create a natural visual buffer to add consistency and increase street appeal. The vegetation as it matures will create natural shade for the public to enjoy the space. |
| Lack of parking in the area | The High Street area has parking on both sides of the road with large car parks contributing a significant amount of car spaces being available. There is additional parking in neighbouring streets within short walking distance, including Bakery Square, Wallace Square and McKenzie Street. Following trader feedback, we have reduced the number of car parks that were to be repurposed by seven. |
| Water feature at the sites | A water feature is considered to be unsuitable for these sites and are not feasible due to limited project budget, and proximity to the nearest water main supply. |
| Barriers at the sites to protect from vehicles nearby | Trees and shrubs will act as a natural barrier and seating walls will be installed to create structural barriers. |
| More seating provided | Ample seating is proposed at each site with a variety of options to allow visitors to sit in groups or sit quietly alone. There is space left for traders at nearby eateries to provide their own seating and tables. |
| Foot traffic cutting across the lawns | The seating and planting are designed to discourage cutting across the lawns. |
| Long term plan for High Street | The Melton Town Centre Revitalisation Plan includes a long-term proposal to reimagine High Street, increasing areas for pedestrians and cyclists, reducing traffic lanes to one in each direction and installing traffic lights at the roundabouts. The road is managed by the Department of Transport and the complexity of changes proposed mean that they would not occur in this decade at a minimum. The proposed streetscape upgrade projects are unrelated to this proposal. |
| Larger scale public realm upgrades
| Smaller-scale, incremental changes to the Melton Town Centre are working toward the larger-scale, transformative change brought about by projects such as the Yarraville or Watergardens. The High Street streetscape upgrades add to recent improvements and are targeted to specific areas to achieve noticeable improvements with a relatively limited budget. All communities have varying acceptance for change, and for Melton, a gradual approach is more appropriate and supported. |
| The pedestrian crossing from the playground to this space should be raised so cars need to slow down | This intersection is managed by the Department of Transport. |
| Concerned about the impact on local traders | Council engaged with the traders near these upgrades and updated the design to support their needs. We have strong support for these proposals from traders. |
| Safety issues potentially installing CCTV | The new streetscapes are designed to bring more foot traffic into the Melton Town Centre, improving amenity and safety. The locations of these spaces are near, or directly outside, well known eateries which are open long hours. These sites will have open sightlines and passive observation. The installation of CCTV cameras is not part of this project. |
We would like to thank everyone who shared their feedback.
All feedback is currently being considered as part of finalising the design. While not every suggestion will be incorporated in the final design, your feedback plays an important role in helping Council understand the community’s needs.
We will provide an update in early 2026 once the designs have been finalised.
