Esplanade Alliance Vision for the Forshore

Our aspirations are underpinned by three principles.

1. No further commercialisation of the foreshore. We have enough restaurants, cafes, sporting facilities, shops on our foreshore.
2. Empty space is not necessarily wasted space, crying out for a building, a car park or a sports facility — areas of contemplation and reflection need equal weight with areas of high activity.
3. Care for, and upkeep of, the distinctive assets/features of the Foreshore (its parks, beaches, boulevards, historic buildings) is more essential than the creation of new ones. We are in danger of our special places decaying due to lack of care and quality maintenance.

And so the solutions we offer are simple. They do not require huge capital works, which can then be used to justify commercial partners and interests.

Our ideas: -

maintain the scenic and built form beauty of the foreshore boulevards

• respect established themes — art deco buildings, Catani's Mediterranean influence, European garden and streetscape features;
• eliminate trucks on beach roads and move them to roads that have been created for that purpose;
• ensure visual continuity of the scenic drive — no tunnels, no ugly pre-fab concrete buildings, no blocking of views;
• maintain the definition of upper / lower esplanade, retain vistas from Upper Esplanade, especially from trams;
• eliminate above ground carparks and ensure no additional carparks are built on the foreshore, unless they are underground;
• explore opportunities for public art.

maximise the natural beauty of the Foreshore including ecological restoration and or maintenance of natural systems

• continue to encourage wildlife to return and to flourish in selected areas, for example vegetation and wildlife at West Beach, penguins and rakali (native water rats) on the breakwater at the end of St.Kilda Pier. (For more information on St.Kilda wildlife contact Earthcare St.Kilda)

improve and enhance passive recreation, which minimises impact on our natural environment

• safe swimming areas, pools, fountains, pontoons, small boating, board walks;
• convert unused public foreshore buildings into public facilities such as change rooms, information centres, sun and wind protected rest areas;
• enhance open space with seats, trees and secluded places;
• increase regular maintenance and care of public places.

provide priority to pedestrians

• improve pedestrian access to foreshore areas and activities through simple measure such as more pedestrian crossings with immediate response to a request for a "green man" (ie button being pushed);
• provide adequate and continuous separation of pedestrians and cycling/skating activities;
• increase public transport services
• always resolve any conflict between pedestrians and other modes (bicycles, cars, skaters) in favour of pedestrians - no compromises.

enhance the public use and visual presentation of vacant land and leased structures on the 'triangle site' and in Shakespeare Grove

• convert above ground parking in Shakespeare Grove and on vacant land next to Palace into public activity spaces, such as skating rink, amphitheatre, children's amusements (a la Little Luna concept), or simply leave them as passive areas such promenades, public squares or built gardens;
• expand backstage of Palais theatre to meet needs of the venue, and complement the addition with built public space or elevated open public space;
• redesign the Palace (via architectural competition) to create a diverse live entertainment venue that can cater to different needs - small theatre, concert hall style venue with dance floor, club venue, etc;
• continue the work that has been started to restore and maintain the historic tradition of Luna Park;
• increase general cleaning of O'Donnell gardens and restore its historic fountain to working order.

allocate sufficient funds for on-going maintenance

• The land and water of the foreshore is fragile. It is already deteriorating because of lack of maintenance.
• Council and the state government must allocate adequate funds for expert land management of the area in the future.

In Summary

A comment from architect and St.Kilda resident Norman Day about the Sea Baths is just as relevant to the St.Kilda Foreshore Management Plan.

"The need for renewal should have been resisted in this case until a good design was protected by all measures — architectural, political and legal, allowing for no compromise nor amendments that were the product of greed, mismanagement, committee-designing and acceptance of the lowest common denominator." (Design Hits Low- Water Mark, in The Age, June 13, 2001).

Guarding the Heart and Soul of St.Kilda

This webpage is maintained by Cyndy Vogelsang on behalf of the Esplanade Alliance