The proposal was included in the Plan for General Development created by the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission in 1929, when Parliament House was the tallest building in the area.

And would have seen a major redevelopment of East Melbourne to the north-east of the Hoddle Grid.

On Spring Street, the eastern boundary of the City proper, are located the Houses of Parliament, the Treasury Buildings in which are housed the Executive Council and other Ministerial Departments, the Hotel Windsor, the Princess Theatre, and other buildings which would be suitable for incorporation in a scheme of architectural treatment for this part of the City.

The eastern approaches to Collins and Bourke streets form very unsatisfactory intersections at Spring Street, and in view of the fact that there is a large amount of open space on the eastern side of Spring Street through which these approach roads pass, the opportunity has been taken of propounding a scheme of remodelling for the whole area. The old High School, at the corner of Victoria Parade, is being superseded by modern new buildings on other sites, the new high school for boys having been completed at South Yarra.

The black hatchings on the plan on opposite page indicate the existing Houses of Parliament, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Peter’s Church in Gisborne Street, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade also in Gisborne Street, the Governmental administrative offices in the area north of the Treasury Gardens, all of which, in conjunction with the buildings in Spring Street, and the site of the old and superseded High School, form a substantial nucleus for a scheme of grouping for prominent buildings in this elevated situation.

It will be seen that by relocating the streets in this area and combining the several reserves, a considerable area admirably suited for the formation of a “Parliament Square” would be available.

Roads would be altered.

The suggested treatment is shown on the plan on previous page. Evelyn Street and Carpentaria Place have been abolished, McArthur Street has been diverted, and the western end of Albert Street has been abandoned. A new scheme of roadways has been planned to harmonise with the park treatment and to supply greatly improved access to the east-west city streets.

In order to facilitate traffic movements at the intersections of Lonsdale and Bourke streets with Spring Street, the corners have been rounded and a small central feature inserted. The sites of a few existing houses and other buildings of an inferior type fronting Victoria Parade have been included as a part of the scheme, but no substantial resumptions are involved excepting for the rounding of the corners referred to.

The street arrangement is designed to overcome the unsatisfactory layout in this area and to abolish dangerous intersections. Traffic on the streets in the vicinity and through the area could be more easily controlled, and larger volumes accommodated with less congestion.

To make way for a grand building at the top end of Lonsdale Street.

It is suggested that the principal building which might be erected in this setting should be in line with Lonsdale Street as shown on the plan, so that the vista along this street would be terminated by a building of suitable architecture, surrounded by open space so that it may be viewed from all angles.

Between the suggested building and Parliament House, a square capable of accommodating a considerable assemblage can be formed. The completion of the northern wing of Parliament House would materially improve the scheme.

The sites, shown in white, would be available for other public buildings, while the whole of the western or Spring Street frontage could be utilised in due time for other prominent buildings of approved architecture.

And connecting the existing gardens around the CBD.

The suggested treatment would effectively link the Carlton Gardens with the Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens, the continuity of garden treatment being broken only by buildings of architectural importance. The Commission is of the opinion that this scheme, if adopted, would greatly enhance the beauty of the City, would lend dignity to buildings and institutions erected in it, would improve the whole neighbourhood, and provide much safer and more satisfactory road facilities than now exist in this area. The aerial view shows the present conditions on the greater part of the area included in the proposed remodelling. It clearly illustrates how the gardens and parks could be made to form beautiful surroundings for buildings of suitable architectural character.

So what happened?

As you might expect, nothing came of the 1929 plans, but in 1954 the Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme proposed a scaled back proposal – demolition of the top end of Bourke Street to form a Civic Square outside Parliament House, and a freeway beneath Spring Street.

The only part of that project to proceed was the Commonwealth Centre at 275 Spring Street completed in 1958, and the State Government Office at 1 Treasury Place completed in 1970.

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Google Maps

Early years

The neat grid of streets stand out against the flat grasslands, 7 km south of Rockbank and 10 km north of Werribee.

Land Victoria

All with British names:

• Downing Street,
• Mayfair Avenue,
• Eaton Court,
• Oxford Street,
• Shelly Court,
• Wandsworth Street,
• McMillan Parade,
• Finchley Court,
• The Mall,
• Sheridan Close,
• Stratford Road

Volume 2 – The Environmental Thematic History from the Shire of Melton Heritage Study by David Moloney explains how the estate came to be:

Rosedale Estate, Chartwell (commonly known as the ‘Chartwell Estate’) was a 1957 subdivision of 491 township sized allotments situated on the eastern corner of Boundary Road and Downing Street (Crown Allotment 5, Section 4, Parish of Pywheitjorrk).

The English mansion Chartwell, best known for its twentieth century ownership by Sir Winston Churchill, overlooks ‘The Weald of Kent’: a rolling green woodland. If the name Chartwell was meant to inspire images of such British landscapes, the Melton South Chartwell – isolated, flat, dry, and totally devoid of trees – was a grand fraud. The Estate’s street names – The Mall, Oxford Street, Downing Street, Mayfair Avenue, Eaton Court, Wandsworth Street, Stratford Street, Macmillan Parade, and Finchley Court – seem to be intended to inspire rich images of England. Most are famous English streets or places; others, including Macmillan Parade (probably named after Harold Macmillan, the English Prime Minister who assumed office in 1957), had more contemporary associations.

The original subdividers, an English couple, went bankrupt before selling the entire estate, which was then taken over by a real estate company. The estate was marketed to new English migrants in western suburbs migrant hostels, many of whom purchased their allotment ‘site unseen’ on the basis of the estate’s proximity to Melbourne, and affordability.

An example of these advertisements is this from 1964.

The Age, 3 November 1964

With land still on sale a decade later.

The Age, 8 December 1973

The land being zoned residential as late as 1985.

1985 Planning Scheme

Development pains

The 491 lot estate could have housed 1500 people, but the land wasn’t suitable for development:

The original approval of the estate in 1957 had apparently been an oversight on the part of a Council which at that time had little experience with legal processes for residential subdivision. The estate did not have water and, more significantly, sewerage; the high rock bedrock of the district would not accommodate 491 septic tanks.

Following the introduction of the Melbourne Metropolitan Interim Development Order (Extension Area No. 1) in 1971, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works refused 18 applications for detached houses in the Rosedale Estate, with the Town Planning Appeals Tribunal hearing three appeals.

In 1976 the subject of development was revisited by Earle and Partners, as part of their Melton-Sunbury Peripheral Towns Study for the Melton-Sunbury Interim Co-ordinating Committee:

We recommend that no public effort be made to improve the services of water or sewerage to Chartwell and that any further building be subject to satisfactory sewerage, drainage and water being provided on the site.

It is expected that this will require a degree of site amalgamation and could result in a total population of 300-400 people.

Existing residents were against further development:

The Board received a letter signed by ten residents on November 16, 1977 stating that they considered that ‘any further development would create unbearable living conditions for those already living on the estate’. The letter noted the problem of roads being ‘impassable for long periods during wet weather’, and the general lack of facilities. The residents were particularly concerned about the lack of sewerage and drainage and believe that a health hazard will result if further development occurs.

But in 1977 the Board’s Planning Committee resolved that the area had been accepted for ultimate development, and that to achieve that it would be necessary to provide water supply and sewerage facilities.

This decision was reverted in 1981, when the Board and the Council commenced a joint study into the future of the estate, with a view to restructuring it and ultimately issuing permits for detached houses on the restructured lots. Provision of a water supply was investigated.

Possible sources of water for a reticulated town supply have been investigated. The first was by connection to the Board’s main at Cowies Hill. Preliminary estimates indicated that such a service would cost in the vicinity of $1,000,000. A second alternative was the provision of a main extending from Rockbank. Cost estimates in respect of this service are likely to be in excess of $500,000.

The alternative to a reticulated water supply would be the provision of water storage tanks to each house. Chartwell has the lowest rainfall in the Melbourne region with an average annual rainfall of 400-500 mm. Assuming a roof area of 150 spare metres the maximum amount of water that could be collected in one year is 75,000 litres (16,500 gallons). Not allowing for leakage and evaporation, this would permit 205 litres to be used per day. For a house occupied by 4 persons this represents 51 litres (11 gallons) per person per day. The State Rivers and Water Supply Commission have advised that each person in a household requires 113 litre (25 gallons) per day minimum. In the metropolitan area the average per capita consumption is 160 litres per day (35 gallons).

It appears then that a severe shortage of water is indicated if reliance were to be placed on roof fed tank supplies. It would not be possible to maintain gardens and the use of water for laundry purposes would be severely restricted. In addition to the inconvenience caused by continual water rationing and the necessity to have water delivered by truck at high cost in times of drought, the lack of means with which to fight fires is an especially serious concern due to the estate’s isolation and restricted access.

A heavier use of the roads would exacerbate this poor condition due to the lack of drainage and the heavy impermeable soils which can cause roads to become impassable in this area.

Sewage being a sticking point.

In the absence of reticulated sewerage for the disposal of sewerage and household sullage, the usual system used is the septic tank. The heavy soils and poor drainage of this area therefore suggest that the disposal of effluent by soil absorption should desirably be carried out on much larger residential sites.

As was the lack of other ‘urban’ facilities.

It also appears that other facilities normally associated with a residential development are lacking in this area. No shops exist at Chartwell, the closest being located at Rockbank. The shopping facilities available at Rockbank are very limited, being only a general store, and residents in the area are required to travel to Melton, Werribee or Sunshine to satisfy most of their shopping needs.

No school exists at Chartwell so children living in the area are taken by bus to schools at Werribee. Whilst the Education Department has reserved a site within the Rosedale Estate for a school, the maximum development potential of the subdivision is well below that required to support a full primary school.

Public open space in the estate has not been developed.

The final decision being:

The Board therefore submitted that development at Chartwell would not be in accordance with the orderly and proper planning of the area or the western sector of Melbourne generally.

It intended that if development were to be permitted at Chartwell, a corresponding pressure and demand for the provision of water, sewerage and drainage services, upgrading of access, provision of educational facilities and other community services to the township would follow. The high capital cost of servicing Chartwell compared with its relatively low development potential under existing policies would be likely to lead to increased pressure for further urban zoning to justify such a large expenditure on them.

The Board therefore submitted that it would be preferable to prevent any development which may dissipate resources from the designated growth centres for the time being.

But despite this, by 1981 14 houses have been erected on 18 lots, of the total 464 residential allotments.

In 1982 one landowner took the Shire of Melton to the Victorian Ombudsman to appeal their rejection of a building permit.

“My wife and I are owners of a residential block of land at Rosedale Estate Chartwell which is in the Rockbank Riding of the Shire of Melton. We purchased the land ten years ago with the idea of building our own home on that land when next I was posted to the Melbourne area (I am a member of the RAAF). We came back to Melbourne in January of this year eager to build on our land only to find that the Melton Shire Council will not issue building permits and any attempt by us to secure a permit would be opposed by the MMBW. For the past ten years we have paid our rates and it seems we will be expected to carry on paying rates even though we are refused building permits.

If the Melton Shire Council cannot be forced to provide facilities and issue building permits could they be forced to buy the land from us thus enabling us to build elsewhere.”

The council reiterating the history of the estate.

“The Rosedale Estate, at Chartwell, was subdivided about 20 years ago. The Council of the day apparently did not require the subdivider to construct the streets. There seems to have been an arrangement whereby the subdivider was to provide water supply from underground sources, but the water proved to be unsuitable, both as to quality and quantity. Fourteen houses have been erected on the subdivision, and the owners are dependent on rainwater for their supply. Over the years some gravelling and minor maintenance of the streets has been provided to give the residents access to their properties. Electricity and telephone services are available, but the Estate is otherwise unserviced. Several years ago the Council tried to interest the then residents in a “self help” water supply scheme, but found that the majority were unwilling to participate in a scheme which would improve conditions for themselves and allow others to build there.

And the reasons for refusal.

The Council, as a planning authority in its own right, has granted permits for the erection of houses on various lots in the Estate, but similar applications to the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, as the regional planning authority have met with refusals. One or two house permits have been obtained on appeal, but other applicants have not pursued the matter following refusal.

The Council is certainly in sympathy with owners who wish to build on their land, but now feels that the Estate should be treated as an “old and inappropriate” subdivision. A joint study into the future of the Estate has been commenced with the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, in the hope that various parcels of lots can be consolidated into a very much smaller number of larger “rural residential” allotments. The study is only in its initial stages but, when it is sufficiently advanced, all property owners affected will be consulted to ascertain their views and perhaps suggest a range of alternative futures for the area.

To develop the Estate as it stands, to a normal residential standard, would require the expenditure of millions of dollars on the construction of the private streets, drains, sewers, and the provision of water supply. Much of this would be a direct cost to the owners of the properties. It would be many years, if ever, before the development of the Estate had a sufficient priority in the eyes of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission to qualify for Government assistance in the provision of water supply and sewerage.

In his letter, the complainant referred to payment of rates and the possibility of the Council buying his land. The land cannot be exempted from rating, and the Council has no need of the land for any municipal purpose. In the event of a restructuring scheme proceeding, as outlined earlier in this letter, there would presumably be an opportunity of selling the land to whichever authority may have the responsibility for implementing such a scheme or, alternatively of purchasing additional adjoining land to create a larger allotment.

The issue was finally resolved in 1992, following the implementation of the Chartwell Restructure Allotment Plan. The 491 lots were reduced to 62, the bulk being around 0.6 hectares in size, the exception being 14 already occupied by dwellings.

Chartwell Restructure Allotment Plan

In the years since, the number of houses on the estate has risen to 16.

And the future

In 2008 plans for the Outer Metropolitan Ring Road were made public, to connect the Hume Freeway at Kalkallo in the north, to the Princes Freeway south-west of Werribee.

But one problem for the residents of Chartwell – the freeway alignment went straight through the middle of the estate.

VicRoads Public Acquisition Overlay, via Land Victoria

The City of Melton made a submission to the ‘Delivering Melbourne’s Newest Sustainable Communities’ study.

The Chartwell Estate on Boundary Road is a small closer settlement of around 15-20 houses. The proposed alignment has a major impact upon this settlement, and would effectively see its complete destruction. This is likely to have significant social implications. Whilst Council appreciates that there are significant engineering constraints associated with the alignment of the OMR, the impact of this outcome should not be underestimated, and Council would urge VicRoads to explore whether there are alignment options which might see the OMR avoid Chartwell.

But the final route of the freeway was still pushed through the estate.

OMR Transport Corridor Design Sheet 4

A note on Public Acquisition Overlays

You might have noticed something a little odd about the Public Acquisition Overlays marked in yellow on this map – PAO3, PAO5 and PAO7.

VicRoads Public Acquisition Overlay, via Land Victoria

Turns out Public Acquisition Overlay numbers are only unique to the planning scheme that they belong to, and not unique across the state. In the case of Chartwell, the estate sits on the border of two:

The top half is the Melton Planning Scheme:

• PAO3: Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor
• PAO5: Western Grassland Reserves

While the bottom half the Wyndham Planning Scheme:

• PAO5: Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor
• PAO7: Western Grassland Reserves

Clear as mud?

And a note on the Western Grassland Reserve

The Western Grassland Reserve was established in 2009 to protect remnant grasslands, and offset urban sprawl, but only 9% of land has been acquired so far. So what’ll be finished first – freeway or grassland?

Sources

• Volume 2 – The Environmental Thematic History, the Shire of Melton Heritage Study, David Moloney
• Victorian Ombudsman, Quarterly Report, 30 September 1981

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The backstory

On February 28, 2000 then-Premier Steve Bracks announced the Linking Victoria program, which included a joint private/public sector redevelopment of Spencer Street Station.

“Spencer Street, the central facility for metropolitan, State, and interstate rail services, has been allowed to die a slow death,” Mr Bracks said.

“Our plans include a multi-modal interchange for passengers on country and metropolitan rail services, the airport rail link, trams and regional buses, and commercial development so the station can better serve Victoria as an international business and tourism centre.

“The Government has commenced work on a master plan for the redevelopment of Spencer Street to give it new life and ensure it plays a pivotal role in linking Victoria.”

A development plan for the project will be undertaken by the Department of Infrastructure over the next six months. Tenders are expected to be let later this year, with construction expected to commence in 2001.

In August 2000 Flagstaff Consulting Group was appointed to develop a concept plan for the Spencer Street Station redevelopment along with options for the financing, delivery and operation of the project. This culminated in October 10, 2001 with the shortlisting of three consortia to build, operate and maintain the new station:

• Civic Nexus: ABN AMRO Australia Ltd, Leighton Contractors P/L, with architects Daryl Jackson P/L, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners
• Spencer Connect: Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd, John Holland P/L, Australand Holdings Ltd, with architects Ashton Raggatt MacDougall, Alsop & Stormer
• Multiplex Rothschild Consortium: Multiplex Constructions P/L, NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Ltd, with architects Denton Corker Marshall, DEGW Asia Pacific P/L

So what did the three proposals look like?

Spencer Connect: Ashton Raggatt MacDougall

Hold onto your hat – you’re in for a wild ride with Ashton Raggatt McDougall! From their archived page on the project and gallery on Flickr:

Imagine seeing this at the Spencer Street end of Bourke Street!

A bizarro world concourse.

And these claustrophobic platforms.

I wonder how it would have translated to reality?

Multiplex Rothschild: Denton Corker Marshall

Somewhat more conventional was the design by Denton Corker Marshall – artists impressions from their page on the project:

Plenty of open space on the concourse.

And even more above the platforms.

And topped off with a ‘blade’, just like their other 1990s Melbourne projects – Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Museum and the ‘Cheesestick’ over CityLink.

So what happened?

In February 2002 a five person design panel was appointed to review the proposals:

Peter McIntyre
A practising architect with 50 years experience, he has designed key icons for Melbourne such as the Olympic Swimming Stadium, Parliament Station, the Melbourne Arts Centre Spire. A former Professor of Architecture at Melbourne University, Mr McIntyre has also been involved in the Museum of Victoria and Crown Casino Melbourne, and will chair the panel.

Leon Van Schaik
Mr Van Schaik is a Melbourne architect, Pro Vice Chancellor and a professor of architecture at RMIT. He has a long history of promoting local architectural culture in Melbourne through the university’s capital works program.

Scott Danielson
An international architect, Mr Danielson will bring an international perspective to Melbourne. He has strong experience in transport interchanges, having been associated with Mass Rapid Transport system in Singapore and Taipei.

Peter Crone
A well-known Melbourne architect, Mr Crone leads his own award-winning practice based on inventive architectural design.

Gerry Neylan
Mr Neylan will contribute almost 30 years experience in major projects. He has an extensive background of planning, architecture and business development.

The Multiplex Rothschild consortium was knocked out of the running in early 2002, leaving a two horse race when the winner was announced on July 2, 2002:

Mr Bracks named the winning consortium as Civic Nexus. Members of the consortium are: ABN Amro, who led and financed the proposal; Leighton Contractors, who will build the new station; and world renowned Australian architect Daryl Jackson and UK-based architect Nicholas Grimshaw.

Civic Nexus will:

• Construct a new transport interchange, worth $350 million, including associated track and signalling works.
• Maintain and operate the new railway station for the next 30 years, with total costs of approximately $100 million.

In return, the State will pay Civic Nexus $300 million through regular payments over the next 30 years.

Mr Bracks said the Civic Nexus redevelopment included the construction of a new retail plaza, and three office and apartment towers, within the Spencer Street Station precinct.

Features of the new station included:

• An open design with vast, light-filled spaces, and all-glass street frontage on to the Collins St extension and Spencer St;
• Secure, sheltered parking facilities for 800 cars plus drop-off areas;
• A 30-bay bus station accommodating terminating and transiting coaches and buses, and providing ticketing facilities and waiting areas for their passengers;
• Convenient access to the main terminal complex for trams travelling along Spencer Street and the new Collins Street extension
• An innovative ‘wave roof’ design spanning across all platforms;
• Links to Docklands via the Collins and Bourke Street alignments, with direct access to these bridges from all platforms;
• In addition to the Bourke Street Pedestrian Bridge, a new footbridge will link Lonsdale Street with Colonial Stadium and connect with a retail plaza;
• The Transport Mural is heritage listed and will be retained and located within the new facility;
• Fully sheltered, high-quality waiting areas, equipped with comfortable seating, lighting, heating and air-conditioning and providing access to toilets, telephones, passenger information displays, catering facilities and other retail outlets;
• Passenger security facilities throughout the Interchange Facility – including CCTV monitoring – and readily accessible passenger help-points and alarms connected to an on-site control room;
• Efficient baggage handling facilities for interstate and long-distance intrastate rail and coach operations.

But it appears that the opinion of the design panel was trumped by beancounters, if this 2006 article from The Age is anything to go by:

The Age also reveals that the Southern Cross Station project, designed by British-based architects Nicholas Grimshaw and Melbourne’s Daryl Jackson, was not the scheme preferred by a Government-appointed design panel.

High-level sources confirmed this week that the three-man panel, led by Professor Peter McIntyre, favoured an alternative design by local firm Ashton Raggatt McDougall, but the Government opted for the cheaper bid.

Industry sources said they believed the difference between the bids was about $80 million.

Mr Batchelor defended the Government’s choice. “Victorians have a new, world-class railway station that has set the standards in design, engineering and technology,” he said.

“What we sought was value for money. In determining value for money, all aspects of the bids were considered including bid price and design.”

Enter scope cuts

It turns out that Southern Cross Station as it exists today is quite different to the original design that Civic Nexus proposed.

A major omission is the lack of roof over the Bourke Street Bridge.

But other changes include the substitution of the highrise tower at the south-west corner facing Collins Street with a low-rise office block, and the replacement of office towers along Spencer Street with the tin shed that is the DFO Outlet Mall.

But there were even more elements dropped – which The Age revealed in July 2005:

Key features of Melbourne’s troubled Spencer Street Station project, including the signature wave roof, have been scaled back or scrapped amid bitter infighting and cost blow-outs.

The wave roof will now cover only about three-quarters of the station, not all platforms as planned.

Other aspects of the $700 million redevelopment have been dropped or shelved as construction delays inflate costs, which the warring parties have sought to recoup through litigation.

The Age can reveal:

• A footbridge linking Lonsdale Street and Telstra Dome will not be built.
• A plan to extend the wave roof over the Bourke Street footbridge has been abandoned after heated rows. The bridge will now be only partially protected from the elements.
• Plans for tiled platforms have been modified to a mix of tiled and asphalt surfaces, although construction company Leighton says this is not a cost-cutting measure.

The original plan, proposed in 2002, included a high-rise tower on the corner of Collins Street and Wurundjeri Way, and a wave roof spanning all platforms. The plan was varied in 2003.

A lower-rise, linear building along Wurundjeri Way will now replace the high rise. The building will be built on a raised concrete deck that will also form the roof above platforms 13 to 16.

This means the wave roof will now cover only platforms one to 12. Platforms 13 to 16, under the concrete deck, will effectively be covered by a high, flat roof.

Grimshaw project director Keith Brewis told The Age the change, (which effectively deletes some of the wave roof to allow for the deck/roof and linear building), had been cost related.

Because the competitive process was so short, the project had not been “absolutely set” when building started, he said. Civic Nexus later decided a high-rise tower was “less commercially attractive” to tenants.

The change to a linear building had been made “to give Civic Nexus some development profit back into the project to help to offset some of the costs of the project”, he said.

Mr Brewis confirmed that a plan for a footbridge to link Lonsdale Street and Telstra Dome would not go ahead because “someone’s got to pay for it”.

Civic Nexus and Leighton Contractors’ joint statement said the footbridge “was considered not necessary, given access is provided over Collins Street, the Bourke Street bridge and La Trobe Street”.

Mr Brewis confirmed there had been plans to extend the wave roof over the Bourke Street bridge, but that this would have involved realigning tracks to allow for supports.

Mr Brewis said there had been disagreement among the companies and organisations involved.

Bourke Street bridge will now be partially covered and have a windscreen on one side.

Civic Nexus and Leighton Contractors’ said the original covering over the bridge had been modified “at the request of the planning authorities who wanted to preserve pedestrian views from the bridge”.

Transport Minister Peter Batchelor would not be interviewed by The Age.

He emailed a statement through a media adviser stating that changes to the Bourke Street footbridge, the Lonsdale Street footbridge and the commercial building on Collins Street had been made in consultation with relevant authorities.

The government’s official line at the time was far more terse:

October 2003 – Design changes to commercial developments approved

Civic Nexus made several architectural and functional improvements to the office, retail and residential buildings being constructed alongside the main station. The $350 million airport-style transport interchange remained essentially unchanged.

But the end result was the same.

Asphalt everywhere.

Tin roofs over the northern end of each V/Line platform.

A poorly lit concrete ceiling above platforms 13 through 16.

And no rain protection on the Bourke Street Bridge.

And don’t get me started on the shops crammed onto every piece of empty space.

Footnote

Some more plans showing a different Southern Cross Station – they include the Lonsdale Street footbridge and a roof over the Bourke Street Bridge, but include the low-rise office block and DFO Outlet Mall as eventually built.

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Included as part of the 1954 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme, the City Ring Road was for a controlled access road that would encircle the entire CBD, West Melbourne, and what is now considered Docklands and Southbank.

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works described what they saw as the problem.

From the study of the movements of traffic within and adjacent to the central business area of the city it is apparent that much unnecessary traffic enters the area.

The traffic census carried out in 1947 under the auspices of the Town and Country Planning Board showed that about 50% of the total traffic which entered this area daily passed straight through to destinations elsewhere. At peak periods most of the traffic on Princes Bridge and Spencer Street Bridge, and a substantial portion on Queen’s Bridge is through traffic.

This results from the following important traffic movements:

(a) Between the northern and western suburbs and the industrial district and shipping berths of the river.
(b) Between the shipping and rail terminals and the industrial areas of the inner eastern suburbs.
(c) The increasing volume of traffic between the shipping and rail terminals on the one hand, and the industrial areas in the west and at Geelong, the industrial areas developing to the south-east, and the Latrobe Valley on the other hand.
(d) Substantial worker and general traffic between the southern and northern suburbs.

At present this considerable volume of through traffic has no reasonable alternative other than to pass through the central business district. To reach its destination it has frequently to make right-hand turns which not only mean loss of time, but which add to the general congestion and the slowing down of other traffic. Investigations indicate that the proportion of through traffic will tend to increase and thus accentuate the problem.

And then presented their solution.

Traffic conditions in the central area would be vastly improved if this through traffic were diverted, for besides reducing the number of vehicles using the streets it would also lessen the amount of turning traffic.

The City Ring Road (Route 1) has been planned, therefore, to permit this through traffic to by-pass the busy city centre, to facilidate the distribution of incoming traffic to the central area, and to act as a collector for outgoing traffic and give it expeditious access to the arterial road system.

Along with how it would be implemented.

If this road is to achieve its purpose, it must offer traffic an inducement to use it in preference to passing straight through. In practice, therefore, it must provide for free and uninterrupted movement to compensate for any greater distance that may have to be travelled.

It is visualised that eventually it will need to have grade separation structures or roundabouts at all important junctions, and that it will be essentially a road with controlled access. It is realised that this final development will not be justified for many years, but the route chosen is one which can be developed progressively. Most of the roads are already 99 feet wide, sufficient to accommodate traffic for some time, provided it is properly controlled. The Spring Street – Victoria Street section is already used
extensively as a by-pass route.

As well as widening existing road corridors, two new road bridges over the Yarra River would be required.

A crossing over the river between Blyth Street, West Melbourne, and Johnson Street, South Melbourne, which is the most urgent portion, would relieve Spencer Street of about one-third of its traffic, and is therefore warranted immediately.

Construction of the crossing over the railway yards between Alexandra Avenue and Spring Street would complete the ring. Improvement at the various intersections could then be carried out when justified by the volume of traffic using the route. This road is the key to the proposed road communication system and of the greatest importance to the future of the central business area.

So what happened?

As you might expect, planning for a freeway along Spring Street past the steps of Parliament House didn’t go down well, so the route was soon moved to Lansdowne Street in East Melbourne.

1958 MMBW plan

But that introduced a new problem.

The route then proposed in the 1954 planning scheme and incorporated in the board’s interim development order followed Lansdowne Street. When examined in more detail, it was found that the effect of such a route on the Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens adjoining Lansdowne Street would be most undesirable.

A third alignment was then tried.

Another alternative examined much farther to the east passed very close to the Melbourne Cricket Ground and followed Powlett Street.

And then a fourth.

The route finally selected followed Clarendon Street and was considered to be the best of all alternatives offering. In 1963, the necessary amendment to what was then the metropolitan interim development order, to reserve land for the new Clarendon Street route, was made public, and objections were raised.

Passing right beside the Ponsford Stand of the MCG.

SLV image H2004.101/256

Which then underwent multiple revisions, until finally approved.

The Government favoured further examination of the alternative to modify the Clarendon Street plan, and finally the plan was approved by the Governor in Council in 1968. This was plan 7. We have come a long way from plan 4.

By 1971 the eastern section of the City Ring Road was being re-examined, following the release of the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan:

A Cabinet sub-committee had been investigating the material put forward by objectors and voluntary organizations, and had been examining the Melbourne transportation plan with a view to considering what parts of it should be implemented.

It recommended that the eastern leg of the ring road should be rejected, on the grounds that the project would have created a considerable disturbance to the charm, character and environment of the area through which it was planned, and that more acceptable and less costly alternatives to serve Melbourne’s transport needs could be achieved.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t to be replaced by another freeway.

It also recommended that priority be given to a further detailed investigation of all implications of a freeway which had been called F2 and which was proposed in general terms as a north-south by-pass somewhere to the east of Hoddle Street in a location which is certainly far from decided.

As well as completion of the western half of the City Ring Road as freeway.

The sub-committee recommended that the Government give priority to the construction of the freeway known as F14, which will provide Melbourne with a north-south by-pass link with the Tullamarine Freeway, and a crossing of the Yarra River west of Spencer Street.

But these recommendations didn’t immediately kill off the eastern City Ring Road.

The MMBW proposal was subsequently modified in 1971 to the development of a 6 lane freeway commencing at Wellington Parade, moving southwards across the Melbourne Cricket Ground parking area, Brunton Avenue, the railway yards and the Yarra River, and passing beneath the Domain and St Kilda Road and re-surfacing in Grant Street.

Construction of the proposed link was scheduled to commence in the late 1970s. However, following a request from the then Minister for Local Government requesting a re-examination of the proposal, it was subsequently abandoned and the planning scheme reservation through the Domain was removed in 1975.

But even that wasn’t enough to completely kill off the proposal – a few decades later it came back in a different form – the Exhibition Street Extension. Announced by the State Government in April 1998 and completed in October 1999, this four lane divided road over the Jolimont railyards linked the upgraded CityLink tollway at Swan Street to the Melbourne CBD at Flinders Street.

Proposals have also been made to upgrade Hoddle Street to a controlled access road, by grade separating intersections along the route, or building a tunnel under the entire road.

And to the south and west

The western and southern parts of the City Ring Road both featured in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan – with the F14 freeway providing a north-south bypass of the CBD via a crossing of the Yarra River west of Spencer Street, and the F9 freeway forming an east-west bypass through South Melbourne.

Work on the southern half commenced as part of the Lower Yarra Crossing project – better known as the West Gate Bridge. The first stage of the freeway opened between Lorrimer Street in 1978 along with the West Gate Bridge, with a second stage east to Stuart Street opening in 1987, and a connection to the South Eastern Freeway built as part of CityLink ‘Southern Link’ and opened in 2000.

The western half of the City Ring Road was completed in 1975 with the opening of the Charles Grimes Bridge, which linked an upgraded Footscray Road on the north bank of the Yarra to Montague Street on the south.

This route was duplicated by Bolte Bridge and the ‘Western Link’ section of CityLink in 1999. In conjunction with the Melbourne Docklands development, during 1999-2001 Footscray Road was closed as a through route, Wurundjeri Way constructed as a replacement north-south route, and the Charles Grimes Bridge rebuilt to connect with it.

And the last piece of the puzzle?

The only portion of the City Ring Road that has never been built was the northern half along Victoria Street, but the on-again off-again East West Link fills the same need.

Unfortunately this cartoon by Ron Tanberg grows more accurate year by year.

And a note on ‘City Bypass’ signs

Melway Edition 22 from 1993 included a “Central Melbourne Bypass & Access Routes” map for the first time – with VicRoads having installed matching signage about the same time.

Note the similarities between this and the 1954 City Ring Road proposal.

Footnote – route details

The 1954 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme described the proposed City Ring Road route as such.

From the roundabout (1) at the corner of Victoria and Nicholson Streets the road would follow Victoria Street westwards, passing over Rathdown Street (2) and under Lygon Street (3). From Cardigan Street it would be carried in a viaduct (4) over the junctions of Victoria Street with Swanston and Elizabeth Streets to near Queen Street.

It would continue along Victoria Street and Hawke Street, which would be joined with Cowper Street by a bridge (5) over the railway yards and the road junction at Dudley Street. The road would continue along Cowper and Blyth Streets and cross the river, probably by a movable type bridge (6), to the important junction with Route 3 at Johnson and Brady Streets.

Eventually, traffic at this point would warrant direct connection by viaduct (7) with Grant Street. The road would continue along Grant Street, where it would form portion of the approach road from the deep-water port to the city business centre.

Crossing under St. Kilda Road and portion of the King’s Domain to Alexandra Avenue, it would then be carried across the river and railway yards by bridge (8) to Spring Street, which from the south side of Collins Street to the north side of Bourke Street would be depressed (9) to avoid interruption to the movement of its traffic by vehicles from Collins and Bourke Streets.

And the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan

The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan also featured a City Ring Road – note the differences in the north-west corner, as well as the eastern side through Yarra Park.

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That is something hard to believe while approaching by car.

Or driving through the underpasses.

And especially so when waiting for a tram.

But the 1954 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme proposed a sea of flyovers that puts the current mess to shame.

See the difference?

The back story

St Kilda Junction originally had eight streets meeting in the middle:

• Punt Road
• Nelson Street
• Wellington Street (with trams)
• High Street (with trams)
• Barkly Street
• Fitzroy Street (with trams)
• Queens Road
• St Kilda Road (with trams)

But with the growth in motor vehicle traffic following World War II, the 1954 Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme proposed a major revamp of the intersection.

St Kilda Junction

In any proposal for improving road communications to the southern suburbs, it is impossible to avoid concentrating a considerable volume of traffic at St. Kilda Junction and this junction becomes the most important in the suburban area.

It is estimated that when the city grows to 2,500,000, nearly 120,000 vehicles will pass through this junction in 12 hours. Much of this will be worker traffic to and from the southern suburbs, where car ownership is high. This means that peak hour traffic will be very heavy.

At some stage grade separation of the traffic will be necessary at this point and reservations have been made to allow for this. The type of intersection which will be necessary, and for which the reservations provide, is shown in diagram 29. The first stage should be the construction of the round-about at surface level, for this would immediately improve conditions. When this proves inadequate the grade separation proposals can then be constructed.

As well as massive expansion of the approach roads.

Route 23 follows Dandenong Road, which is already 198 feet wide except between Glenferrie Road, Malvern, and Burke Road, Caulfield, where relatively costly improvement will be necessary eventually to bring it up to the capacity of the rest of the route.

A new route has been provided to eliminate the existing bottleneck in Wellington Street, St. Kilda, and the route then continues along Queen’s Road and Hanna Street. Its connection also to Route 28 will facilitate the movement of traffic to the port, the western suburbs and Geelong.

Route 27 is the main outlet to the bayside suburbs and the beaches beyond. The scheme provides for elimination of the botdeneck in High Street, St. Kilda, to provide a highway 198 feet wide from the Yarra to Gardenvale.

It then continues through Brighton as a deviation of the Nepean Highway to link up at South Road with Route 26, a Country Roads Board project designed to carry the heavy holiday traffic past the seaside suburbs to beyond Frankston.

The proposals being illustrated in this diagram.

So what ended up happening?

Disputes between the St Kilda City Council and the State Government saw the grand grade separation plans shelved, with a temporary roundabout opened in 1955 and made permanent a year later. But road projects never get cancelled – only delayed – with the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) building the current network of underpasses in 1966-1970, as well as the widening of the Princes Highway (Route 23 in 1954) and Nepean Highway (Route 27).

Footnote: failed landscaping

The completed St Kilda Junction has so inhospitable that it took a decade for plants to successfully take hold – from the 1979 CRB Annual Report.

St Kilda Junction was reconstructed almost 10 years ago to overcome the serious traffic problems of the then existing junction.

Previous attempts to improve the aesthetics of the new junction area were not successful because of the harsh environmental conditions. Any trees and shrubs planted in the area are required to withstand the wind that is funnelled along the approach roads,the pollutants from the heavy traffic flows and the coastal environment as well as being able to find sufficient moisture in the large paved area.

A scheme was implemented during the year which appears to be successful in overcoming the problems. The scheme utilises a combination of bluestone walls and decorative bluestone paving with both plane trees and native spotted gums, together with shrubs and ground cover plants planted in large raised planting beds. Tree holes of one cubic metre each have been excavated and filled with fertile soil, and a drip feed irrigation system has been installed.

The landscape treatment is in harmony with the various road elements of the junction and integrates the junction visually with both the plane tree avenue in St Kilda Road and the newer plantations in Nepean Highway.

The gum trees are well established 40 years later, but the shrubs seem to have gone.

Further reading

• Car is King – Almost by Christopher Cody

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The key components was a Civic Square at the corner of Bourke and Spring Street, and a new Town Hall located above Bourke Street at the western of of the new square.

Legend:

1. Parliament House
2. Civic Square
3. Civic Hall and Municipal Offices
4. Public Authorities and private development
5. Existing Hotel
6. Existing Theatre
7. State Government Offices
8. Proposed Commonwealth Offices

Chapter 13 of the Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme 1954 describes the concept.

Every community has need at times for ceremonies of national rejoicing or solemn commemoration, and a city should have a place where its citizens can assemble together for such purposes. Apart from the environs of the Shrine of Remembrance, where any ceremony can fittingly be associated only with the purpose of the Shrine, there is no place in Melbourne where such ceremonies can be appropriately conducted. Our city lacks a civic focal point.

The centre of civic administration is the Melbourne Town Hall which, despite its many fine features, is located in such a congested area and on such an inadequate site that it does not provide for the needs of a city. The centre of governmental administration is much better chosen, but many government departments are scattered throughout the central area and occupy space which should more appropriately be used for commercial purposes. The offices of semi-governmental bodies are also widely separated.

It is apparent that if all the administrative offices of government departments, semi-government bodies and the municipality of Melbourne were grouped in one locality, not only would the dealings of these bodies with each other be facilitated, but it would be a great convenience to all citizens. In addition, sites now occupied by public bodies in various parts of the central area would become available for more appropriate uses.

In Melbourne the Commonwealth Government has acquired the city block bounded by Spring, Latrobe, Exhibition and Lonsdale Streets, and has plans to build on half the area within the next seven years so that Commonwealth departments in Melbourne can be accommodated together.

State Government departments are located in the Government Office Building between Spring Street and Lansdowne Street, and the Chief Government Architect believes that this site can be developed to accommodate all the State departments which for efficiency should be in close contact with each other.

Nearby in Spring Street and facing down Bourke Street is State Parliament House. It is no new conception that in front of Parliament House there should be an open space for ceremonial and other occasions. Various sites have been suggested for a Civic Centre and there will probably always be some difference of opinion as to which one is the most suitable.

In reviewing all these matters, the conclusion is reached that, because of present and proposed development in the vicinity, a grouping of government and civic activities around Parliament House is both logical and appropriate. Many different ways of doing this could be propounded and each would have its advocates and each its merits. It is not the function of the planning scheme to determine just how this should be done, but it has been necessary to consider the possibilities of the area for the purpose.

Diagram 38 shows in perspective one conception of how the environs of Parliament House could be developed to provide a Civic and Administrative Centre worthy of the city. This is not presented as the complete and detailed study necessary before any positive action is taken, but merely to illustrate the potentialities of the locality.

The conception provides for:

(a) Creation of a civic square for the full width of Parliament House and extending some distance down Bourke Street towards Exhibition Street.

(b) The erection of buildings of a monumental character around the square to provide for a Town Hail and municipal offices, for offices for public authorities and for appropriate private uses.

(c) The retention of the Princess Theatre and the Windsor Hotel which when rebuilt, as some day they must be, can be brought into architectural harmony with the surroundings.

(d) Public garage accommodation on several levels under the Civic Square.

(e) Depressing Spring Street from the south side of Collins Street to the north side of Bourke Street as part of the ultimate development of the City Ring Road, thus permitting approach to Parliament House above Spring Street from the Civic Square.

(f) Widening, to the extent shown, of Little Collins Street and Little Bourke Street and their connection to the Civic Square at its west end to facilitate traffic movement and to enhance the value of the properties abutting those streets.

(g) The creation of an open area between Parliament House and the ecclesiastical buildings grouped in the vicinity, by diverting road traffic in Gisborne Street and incorporation of some of the grounds of Parliament House.

To permit this or some other appropriate development being gradually achieved, the area has been included in Special Use Zone No. 13, in which the uses have been regulated accordingly.

No doubt many people, for various reasons, will oppose the whole or portion of this conception, but a civic centre is badly needed in Melbourne. It would not only enhance the charm and amenities of this already beautiful city, but would be an asset appropriate to a city of 2,500,000 people.

Looking back

As you can probably guess, none of the above plans ever moved forward – the exception being the Commonwealth Centre at 275 Spring Street completed in 1958, and the State Government Office at 1 Treasury Place completed in 1970

A rather telling line is this one:

The retention of the Princess Theatre and the Windsor Hotel which when rebuilt, as some day they must be. can be brought into architectural harmony with the surroundings.

Can you imagine demolishing the Windsor Hotel?

And the Princess Theatre?

At least Parliament House would be retained!

Another positive outcome of the plan being abandoned is avoiding a tangle of freeway off-ramps at the corner of Spring and Lonsdale Street – part of the long abandoned City Ring Road plans.

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The grid of proposed roads can be found in Melway Edition 1 on map 26 and 27.

In the decades since the land on the western side of the railway line has been developed, but the other side lays empty – aerial imagery from Google Maps shows a grid of dirt tracks.

So why has such a large subdivision sit empty for so long?

I found the answer earlier this year, when a paper titled “Solomon Heights: A Zombie Subdivision?” was published. From the abstract:

Solomon Heights, 10kms west of the centre of Melbourne, Australia, on what has now become prime riverside real estate, is a case in point. Although subdivided into a residential pattern during the 1920s, the site had been rezoned industrial in the mid-1950s under Melbourne’s first comprehensive city plan. It was thereafter left fallow, for reasons unclear, without basic urban services like water or sealed roads. Environmental social issues have since come to impact on the site, while landowners seek the opportunity to build.

The rest of the paper is well worth the read, as are these other links:

• Solomon Heights: A Zombie Subdivision? (Elizabeth Taylor, David Nichols, Victoria Kolankiewicz)
• Solomon Heights at Brimbank City Council
• Solomon Heights at Wikipedia

Other abandoned subdivisions

Turns out the list of abandoned subdivisions in Victoria is quite long – so many that I’ve spun them off into their own articles.

• Summerlands Estate on Phillip Island
• Rosedale Estate at Chartwell
• Burns Road Estate in Altona

As well as an overarching post covering the subject of ‘old and inappropriate subdivisions’ in Victoria.

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The early plans

I found a presentation dated March 2004 on the Craigieburn Rail Project, authored by the Department of Infrastructure. They summarised the works as follows:

As part of the State Government’s “Linking Victoria” policy the Craigieburn Rail Electrification project will:

• Provide high quality and accessible public transport to the Craigieburn urban growth corridor –anticipated 38% increase in population by 2021
• Contribute to the Government’s 20/2020 target of increased public transport mode share
• Improve access and integration between Craigieburn,Roxburgh Park and Broadmeadows activity centres
• Extend frequent rail services beyond Broadmeadows connecting direct to the City Loop

Roxburgh Park

• A new station will be provided at Roxburgh Park complete with bus interchange and car parking facilities

Craigieburn

• There will be an extensive remodelling of the existing Craigieburn station to provide three new platforms with Premium Station facilities again including bus interchange facilities and the existing car park will be extended
• Train stabling will be provided north of Craigieburn station in a new secure facility
• Available land at Craigieburn to provide for future expansion with ultimate capacity of up to 14 trains-sets and a potential maintenance facility

The plans for a three platform station at Craigieburn caught my eye.

The main station building would still be on the ‘town’ side of the station, like what was eventually built, but access to the platforms would be via a pedestrian underpass.

In addition the third platform would allow suburban trains to terminate clear of the main line, enabling V/Line trains towards Seymour to continue through unimpeded.

Cutting the scope of the project

The extension of suburban trains to Craigieburn was costed at $98 million, but in July 2005 The Age had revealed that the scope of the project had been cut:

Car parking at Roxburgh Park Station has been slashed from 400 spaces to 138. A planned yard at the station has been reduced in capacity from five train sets to two, and cheaper building materials have been used for parts of the roof.

But the biggest cut was at Craigieburn station:

At the Craigieburn station the original plan provided for platforms on either side of the tracks, linked by a pedestrian overpass. But under the revised plan, the eastern platform has been scrapped and instead of an overpass there will be a pedestrian level crossing, forcing passengers arriving from the east to walk across the tracks.

With construction delays being the result:

The project is also behind schedule because of the redesign. Work was to have started last year but is yet to get under way. The 2006 completion date appears unlikely to be met.

Cutting the ribbon

A few years later and with an extra $17 million spent, suburban trains finally rolled into Craigieburn on 30 September 2007.

Premier John Brumby today launched a new era of public transport for people in Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs with the commencement of metropolitan services along a newly electrified line from Broadmeadows to Craigieburn.

Premier John Brumby today launched a new era of public transport for people in Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs with the commencement of metropolitan services along a newly electrified line from Broadmeadows to Craigieburn.

Mr Brumby, also Member for Broadmeadows, said the completion of the Victorian Government’s $115 million Craigieburn rail extension project was an historic day for people in Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park and nearby areas. “This is a great day for people living or working in Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park and surrounding suburbs and delivers on our commitment to provide greater public transport services for people in Melbourne’s outer north,” Mr Brumby said.

The completion of the new Roxburgh Park station and the new line to an upgraded Craigieburn station also paves the way for construction of another new station at Coolaroo which we funded in the 2007/08 State Budget and will complete by 2010.

Ms Kosky said the new Craigieburn line meant Melbourne’s outer north now had an integrated public transport network. “The new services will provide eight services to the city in the morning peak, compared with three V/Line services before,” Ms Kosky said.

Despite the spiel from the government, the facilities initially provided at Craigieburn were spartan – the facilities on platform 1 were left in a decrepit state, with only platform 2 being rebuilt for suburban trains.

In addition only a single crossover between tracks was provided – a configuration that only permitted suburban trains to use platform 2. As a result, whenever a Seymour-bound V/Line service passed through Craigieburn, any waiting suburban trains had to be emptied of passengers, and then shunted into the sidings to clear the track.

A year after opening, the extension of suburban trains to Craigieburn was a success:

Acting Public Transport Minister Tim Pallas said the success of the Craigieburn electrification project was already apparent, as local train patronage continued to grow.

“Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs have grown significantly in the past few years. Validations at Craigieburn Station have tripled since the same time last year, with more than 31,000 people boarding at the station in July this year.

The government also found some money to finish the job proposed back in 2004:

Mr Pallas said investment was continuing in this region as construction now begins on the second stage of the Craigieburn train stabling project.

“The electrification to Craigieburn included stabling, or storage to accommodate new train services. The second stage of works will now include stabling to house an extra six trains, track and signal work, and a building for train drivers and maintenance staff,” Mr Pallas said.

The upgrades included the rebuilding and electrification of platform 1, as well as the provision of an extra crossover between the two tracks – changes that allowed V/Line trains bound for Seymour to overtake suburban services.

Unfortunately a fourth crossover at the country end of the station was not added, so V/Line trains from Seymour still get cannot overtake suburban services.

Work also started on a new station at Coolaroo, located midway between Roxburgh Park and Broadmeadows.

Back at Craigieburn, the stabling yard for suburban trains was enlarged.

And an additional track was built to allow simultaneous arrivals and departures into the yard.

The final icing was the 2010 decision to build a complete train maintenance facility at Craigieburn.

Craigieburn in Melbourne’s north will become home to one of largest and most modern train maintenance facilities in Australia. Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula said the new maintenance facility would include housing for 17 trains, maintenance train roads and a new train wash plant which would use water captured off the buildings roof.

“This facility will be one of the largest in the country; it will have the capacity for 25 trains to be onsite at any one time,” Mr Pakula said.

Works are already well underway at Craigieburn, with construction of the new train wash facility, driver amenities, power sub-station and additional stabling roads all progressing.

Work on the massive shed started soon after.

Work on the maintenance facility was completed by 2011 – here is a a diagram of the completed yard at Craigieburn.

As for the third platform and footbridge access proposed for Craigieburn back in 2004, we’re still waiting.

Hiding in plain sight at Craigieburn

Craigieburn station has an interesting feature.

Head onto platform 2.

And you’ll notice a ‘land bridge’ linking the platform with the station concourse.

The bridge crosses land reserved for the future third platform, to be located on the western side of the tracks.

Even the rear edge of the existing platform is ready for the future third track.

Footnote

In the decade since suburban trains started running to Craigieburn, the Victorian Government department responsible for transport has had the following names:

• Department of Infrastructure
• Department of Transport
• Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure
• Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources

Do you reckon they could cram another title into the next department rebranding?

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A closer look at the Melways shows that a direct alignment through the suburbs of Ardeer and Sunshine West is possible: an electrical transmission line cuts right through the middle of the suburb, with a linear park making use of the otherwise idle land.

Down at ground level the space for a freeway is still there: this is looking south from Glengala Road.

Turning to the north, only a single house blocks the open alignment: 164 Glengala Road, Sunshine West.

A check of the Land Victoria maps shows that this house has a conventional Residential 1 Zone (R1Z) applied to it, with the rest of the open reserve coming under the Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ).

So with all this wide open space, why wasn’t the Western Ring Road built straight down the middle? To answer that question, I dug through my collection of old Melbourne street directories – as well as showing how much the city has grown, they often depict freeway proposals that never get built.

I hit paydirt in Edition 26 of the UBD directory, dated 1983, with map 68 showing a big dotted line running through the middle of Sunshine West and Ardeer.

Digging back further to the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan, the alignment of the Western Ring Road was also visible, as part of the proposed F3 and F5 freeways.

So when was the alignment through the middle of the suburbia abandoned, replaced by a longer route through empty paddocks?

I found a lead in the 30 November 1989 edition of the Government Gazette, which introduced the Environmental Effects Statement approval process for the Western Ring Road. It detailed how the proposed freeway was to follow the existing F3 and F5 reservations already included in the planning schemes of the Cities of Werribee, Sunshine and Keilor – but not through Ardeer.

While the 1988/89 annual report for the Road Construction Authority gave some further context.

A planning investigation to prepare an Environmental Effects Statement for the Sunshine Keilor section of the Western Ring Road began in October 1988. A number of specialist investigations (some by consultants) are being done to gain information on existing and future traffic, noise, air quality, landscape, archaeology, flora and fauna and sociology.

Consultation is integral with the study. A mailing list has been prepared of more than 3,000, after 28,000 brochures were distributed to all property owners and occupiers in the area. Team members have met with many groups and individuals and public displays of all options were shown.

Minister for Transport, Mr Jim Kennan, with one of the community displays showing alternatives for the Western Ring Road at Ardeer

The major issues are the severance of Ardeer by the existing reservation, the need to minimise impact of the Derrimut Grasslands, and whether or not an interchange should be provided with the Calder Highway. Following evaluations, the Minister for Transport announced that the reservation through Ardeer would be dropped in favour of an alternative to the west. This was strongly supported by the community. The remaining issues will be resolved through the environmental process.

I then paid a visit to the State Library of Victoria to find the Environmental Effects Statement itself – in particular, that for the Sunshine to Keilor section of the Western Ring Road.

In ‘Supplementary Report No. 12’ dated November 1989, I found the following line:

The current Proposed Main Road reservation through Ardeer is to be deleted as the reservation width is considered insufficient to provide for a major arterial road.

It then goes on to recommend new usages of the now unneeded land:

The length of the reservation between the St Albans rail line and Derrimut is to be rezoned as follows:

(i). The section adjacent to Public Open Space reservations to the east and north of Hulett Street – to Public Open Space reservation.
(ii). The section adjacent to General Industrial Zone immediately north of Western Highway – to General Industrial Zone.
(iii). In Ardeer, from the Western Highway to Forrest Street amended to Proposed Secondary Road. An area immediately north of Forrest Street amended to Reserved Living.
(iv). From Ridgeway Parade southwards to Dalton Street rezoned to Reserved Living to allow residential development to take place subject to satisfactory road access arrangements. The present Proposed Secondary Road reservation (for the extension of Wright Street) will be retained until the long term development of the land is determined.
(v). South of Dalton Street a strip of land fronting Nicholson Parade is proposed to be rezoned to Reserved Living. This will ensure that the Sunshine West neighbourhood is not affected by industrial traffic intrusion if land to the west is developed for industry. The remainder of the old road reservation is proposed to be rezoned as Reserved Light Industrial to reflect present zoning to the west.

Item (iii) above will enable the provision of a north-south access route which will greatly improve accessibility in this area, currently severely limited by lack of crossing opportunities over the rail line and Kororoit Creek.

The Council has yet to carry out detailed traffic and planning studies for Ardeer/Sunshine West. These may show the need for different zones or reservations in the area. Designation of the land as Reserved Living generally preserves these options. If the Council decides that a road is not required for it’s purposes on the existing reservation north of Forrest Street, the land would revert to its underlying zoning of Reserved Living; or some such other reservation that the Council may decide upon. Before rezoning of the land is approved, the potential for contamination of the site will be assessed.

With the route of the Western Ring Road through Ardeer now decided, construction started in the early 1990s, with the Keilor Park Drive to Western Highway section opening in July 1995, and the Western Highway to Boundary Road, Laverton segment in March 1996.

As for the land zoning changes, the Government Gazette dated 19 January 1995 detailed the final abandonment of the old freeway route.

Planning and Environment Act 1987
NOTICE OF AMENDMENT TO A PLANNING SCHEME

The Brimbank City Council, Sunshine Office has prepared Amendment L79 to the Sunshine Planning Scheme. This amendment proposes to change the planning scheme by rezoning land along part of the abandoned Western Ring Road Reservation as follows.

(1) Parkland between Ridgeway Parade and Wright Street from Proposed Main Road Reservation to Public Open Space Reservation.
(2) Existing residential property at 164 Glengala Road from Proposed Main Road Reservation to Proposed Public Open Space Reservation.
(3) Part of Glengala Road from Proposed Main Road Reservation to Secondary Road Reservation.
(4) Existing residential properties in Hall Street and Lachlan Road from Proposed Main Road Reservation to Residential C Zone.
(5) Vacant land in Wright Street, Adina Court, Yaralla Count and Dalton Street from Proposed Main Road and Proposed Secondary Road Reservations to Reserved Living Zone.
(6) Vacant land in Adina Court from Proposed Main Road Reservation and Reserved Living Zones to Proposed Secondary Road Reservation.
(7) Vacant land in Fremont Parade and Marti Court from Proposed Main Road Reservation to Residential C Zone.

This amendment can be inspected at the Brimbank City Council, Sunshine Office, Alexandra Avenue, Sunshine or the Department for Planning and Development (Plan Inspection Section, Ground Floor, the Olderfleet Buildings, 477 Collins Street, Melbourne) and will be available for inspection during office hours by any person free of charge. Submissions about the amendment must be sent to the Urban Planning Department, Brimbank City Council, Sunshine Office, Municipal Offices, Alexandra Avenue, Sunshine 3020 by Monday, 20 February 1995.

So that wraps up everything up, including the little house by itself at 164 Glengala Road, Sunshine West.

Further reading

• The short term effects of Melbourne’s Western Ring Road: a paper by Paul Mees

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