Urban Forest

Urban Forest at Victoria Point

Completed in July 2023, the Victoria Point Podium Greening project has transformed the Marvel Stadium concourse from grey to green.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The owners corporation of Victoria Point has created a safer and welcoming environment for residents and visitors to enjoy. ​The once underutilised and uninviting space has now been activated with new garden beds, canopy trees, habitat plantings, seating areas for relaxation, and improved lighting. ​

Inspired by the ecological history of the area, this greening project has transformed this underutilised podium area into a welcoming green space that includes:

  • five new custom garden beds
  • trees for shading and wind breaks
  • indigenous and native plants to provide habitat for biodiversity
  • new drip irrigation system
  • upgraded lighting for safety
  • areas for relaxation.

The project was funded through a $500,000 City of Melbourne Urban Forest Fund grant, with contributions from Development Victoria and Victoria Point Owners Corporation. We express our ongoing gratitude to all for their contributions.

PROJECT BENEFITS

The Victoria Point Podium Greening project will provide a range of environmental, community and economic benefits.

Environmental

  • Once established, the new plantings will lead to a total of 2850 square metres of green cover – over doubling the green cover of what was originally there. This includes 38 trees and over 5000 understorey plants within new garden beds.
  • Native and indigenous plants have been chosen to support local biodiversity and connect with other habitat patches nearby, such as Docklands Park. The project team worked closely with Westgate Biodiversity: Bili Nursery & Landcare, who provided guidance on plant selection and grew and supplied the plants. Species include:
    • nodding saltbush (Einadia nutans)
    • bulbine lily (Bulbine bulbosa)
    • lemon beauty-heads (Calocephalus citreus)
    • wattle mat-rush (Lomandra filiformis)
    • black-anther flax-lily (Dianella revoluta)
  • Stormwater runoff will be reduced on the site, with permeable garden bed surfaces capable of holding high amounts of water.
  • Replacement of existing concrete to vegetated areas with canopy trees will assist in reducing the ‘heat island effect’ and provide cooling benefits.

Community

  • A Women’s Safety Audit conducted in 2018 identified that women felt unsafe in the area. Consequently, lighting has been improved to create a safer environment.
  • The garden beds have been specific​ally designed and configured to improve wayfinding and pedestrian flow through the site​, including from the CBD to Docklands.
  • Access to a high-quality green space provides important daily opportunities for over 1000 high-rise residents and visitors to actively use the area and interact with nature, improving health and wellbeing.
  • ​In August 2023, Victoria Point Podium project was recognised as a ‘‘Global Peace Park’ by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism Australia (IIPT), a not-for-profit organisation, in collaboration with Skal International, a global tourism network organisation. This new, urban green space joins over 450 IIPT Global Peace Parks promoting peace and harmony by connecting community with nature, and each other.

Economic

  • Revitalisation of this high-traffic residential, commercial and retail precinct, has potential to increase property values, improve productivity for workers, and provide better amenity for patrons in retail venues​.