There has been little time for City of Melbourne to
plan what might take place at the newly purchased Munro’s Corner site. In a
very exciting move the CoM has purchased the site adjacent to QVM from its owners, the Munro
Family, and will now need to decide on how it will be used.
The 6,500 square metre
parcel of land only came on the market a few months back but we have been able
to glean some idea of what the city has in mind.
First and foremost the Lord Mayor has stated he will be
seeking input from traders on how the Therry St. property might be integrated
into the market precinct. On radio this week he talked about activities that would
be market oriented including the likelihood of a retail precinct with
restaurants that procured their fresh food from the market.
He also talked about the opportunity to position a car park
on the site and avoid the disruption and expense of an underground car park under
A, B, and C sheds. However, the discussion this week has been around a 400
space car park which is less than half what traders consider necessary so there
is more work to be done on that subject. The Lord Mayor has previously said
that there would be no less than the current number of car park spaces (around
800) so we will need to find out where the other spaces might be located. A
QVMAC meeting will discuss that subject next Tuesday.
The Lord Mayor also talked about low-income or worker housing
on the site which would certainly be consistent with the markets role as a
community hub. The Age has reported plans for a walkway linking Franklin and
Therry Streets, and the restoration of the Mercat Cross Hotel.
The opportunity to link QVM renewal with the development of
such a strategically located development site offers exciting prospects for our
market. We look forward to hearing more over coming weeks and in the meantime
suggest traders take up the Lord Mayor’s offer – How do traders think the Munro
site could be integrated successfully into a market precinct? What facilities
should it have? What role should such a site play as part of one of the world’s
great Public Markets?