ISSUES:
Underdeveloped sites
Many sites within City North remain underutilised …The Queen Victoria Market is a cultural icon, which occupies a 7 hectare site including an expansive car park. To complement this key attraction, there is the opportunity to optimise use of the land.
Lack of contained activity
The Queen Victoria Market is only a part time hub of activity in City North. The limited opening hours and retail offer do not comprehensively service local retail needs and create a large activity void particularly when closed (two days a week). A denser population of residents and workers local to the market would strengthen its long term retail viability. The uses surrounding the Queen Victoria Market should complement the role of the market’s unique retailing offer.
STRATEGIES:
Create three new local activity hubs
There is currently no conveniently accessible service hub. Local service hubs are proposed, one around the Haymarket precinct, another at Queen Victoria Market and the Carlton and United Brewery site. These hubs will provide local services, amenity and a sense of local community. They will also service visitors and tourists and be part of the broader activity of the city.
DDO14 – Queen Victoria Market Area
The primary purpose of the overlay is to ensure that any development within the Queen Victoria Market is consistent with its Victorian character and low- scale. Importantly, the DDO seeks to ensure that that any development in close proximity to the Queen Victoria Market is compatible with the scale and character of the Market……
Pedestrian priority within the Queen Victoria Market vicinity
To improve pedestrian access through the Queen Victoria Market precinct, Queen Street and Therry Street will incorporate wider pedestrian pavements and a generous space for landscaping. The southern end of the Queen Victoria Market will benefit from improvements to pedestrian links to provide enhanced access to the Flagstaff Gardens.
PUBLIC REALM – 30 year Vision
The City of Melbourne’s Open Space Strategy (draft 2011) indicates that the growing community in City North will require additional and a more diverse range of open spaces. Opportunities to meet this need exist at Queen Victoria Market, at Haymarket and within the streets.
Opportunity for generous landscaped streetscapes
The Queen Victoria Market (QVM) is a Melbourne cultural icon and key attractor in City North, with ten million visitors a year. At present, the seven hectare QVM site accommodates few trees and landscaped areas to contribute to the experience of shoppers and visitors. The QVM has expansive areas of asphalt which create an impervious surface. There is a high level of pedestrian activity in the QVM precinct. However, several streets in the vicinity have a lack of trees to enhance pedestrian comfort. There is significant potential to improve the provision of trees and open spaces which are complementary to the QVM’s heritage to strengthen the visitor experience.