Let’s face it. Council’s record on shopping strip streetscapes leaves a lot to be desired. Both Fitzroy Street and Acland Street have had such plans – enough said, perhaps. Now the Carlisle Street (Balaclava) Streetscape Plan is before Council after extensive engagement and technical input. It’s packed with detail and ‘fine-grain’, yet it has no budget and no timeline.
Curiously, the Streetscape Plan excludes the proposed Coles development site from the scope. Strange but true, especially so given the works are unfunded and will be reliant on grants and presumably developer contributions.
It also remains silent about two ‘elephants in the room’* – or should we say four elephants. The first two are supermarket giants Woolies and Coles – both with redevelopment on their minds and very deep pockets – but no inclination to share their vision.
Woolies bought part of the carpark in 2021 with development in mind and, despite hefty delay penalties, has announced nothing to date.
Coles is even more tantalising. It has spent $100M acquiring land and is now negotiating with Council to buy 2249 sq m of adjoining carpark to create a mega development site. In September 2025, an enthusiastic Council voted unanimously to sell the land and sent the CEO off to strike a deal with an MOU to maintain public parking, provide new public toilets and open space, retain heritage, preserve pedestrian permeability, and include housing, some of which should be ‘affordable housing’.
‘Crickets’ since September 2025
Since that vote, TWiSK understands councillors have had no briefings from their CEO on the process and are keeping a discreet distance. We can only speculate about what’s holding up the sale, but the pending sale certainly rates as an elephant in the room.
The remaining elephant is Sonya Kilkenny, Minister for Planning, who will most likely raise her trunk and trumpet that planning approvals will be hers under the fast-track major projects provision.
That’s a lot of elephants in the room, prompting us to wheel out ye olde proverb: “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
What’s in the streetscape plan anyhow?
The Carlisle Street, Balaclava Streetscape Plan will guide future public realm upgrades between Brighton Road and Carlisle Avenue, including around St Kilda Town Hall and Library.
Developed through community engagement in 2025 with more than 370 participants, it addresses narrow footpaths, limited tree canopy, inconsistent lighting and pedestrian safety.
Key highlights of the plan
* Gateways and activity areas: Establishing iconic gateways at the eastern and western ends of Carlisle Street, with a secondary gateway at Balaclava Station.
* Access and connectivity: Prioritising pedestrians with raised zebra crossings on side streets, narrower vehicle lanes, and shared zones on Nelson and Camden Streets.
* Surfaces and furniture: Standardising street furniture with warm timber-look and stainless-steel finishes, plus a simplified footpath palette using feature concrete and bluestone paving.
* Greening and resilience: Increasing tree canopy and integrating Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), including rain gardens and bioretention tree pits.
* Open space: Revitalising the St Kilda Library/Duke Street reserve with new pathways and seating, and enhancing the Town Hall forecourt.
* Inclusivity and safety: Using Gender Impact Assessment findings to improve lighting, visibility and universal access for women, gender-diverse people and people with disability.
The paperwork acknowledges that removal of any on-street parking is a concern for traders and residents. It says that “The Plan does propose interventions which may reduce on-street parking to deliver other benefits, such as tree planting. These are discretionary and optional. Further feasibility of the design in future stages will determine the exact impact on parking.”
Budget and timeline
Implementation will be staged and subject to future Council Plan and budget processes. A total cost is not yet finalised, but funding has been allocated within Council’s 10-year financial plan, albeit zero in the first four years.
There is no dedicated budget for this streetscape. Instead, officers are aligning works with funded programs, including the Urban Forest Strategy, Water Sensitive Urban Design Program and Footpath Renewal Program.
Council will also seek state and federal grants, alongside developer contributions tied to major local redevelopments such as Coles and Woolworths.
Footnote: Where’s the updated structure plan?
As the State powers ahead with Activity Centre planning overlays around transport nodes including Windsor, Prahran and Elsternwick, the two Port Phillip stations on the same rail corridor – Balaclava and Ripponlea – do not appear as separately named activity centres in the current program.
Seemingly asleep at the wheel, Council’s own Activity Centre Structure Plan for the Carlisle Street precinct was issued in 2009 – that’s not a typo. Council is midway through developing a new precinct plan and has earmarked $75,000 in this year’s budget for a Carlisle Precinct Structure Plan.
* The idiom “the elephant in the room” describes an obvious truth, problem, or controversial issue that everyone is aware of but no one wants to discuss. This silence is usually because the topic is too uncomfortable, awkward, or sensitive to bring up
