The goss is that the Wellington Street design proposals did not get up.
It wasn’t from a lack of trying. 90 people got up at the Council meeting and most of them supported the design changes. However, only two councillors voted ‘yes’ for the changes and seven of them voted ‘no’.
I heard part of one councillor’s speech, speaking about being saddened by the way the proposals had divided the community. This councillor hoped we could mend and revisit a redesign that did not cause so much consternation amongst us in the future.
NIMBY
It is true that the big yellow signs in the ‘no’ camp were very visible beacons for the section of the community who were aghast at the prospect of making Wellington Street a ‘no through road’.
The ‘yes’ camp had a lot to say too. And it was very interesting to learn about the traffic studies and case studies elsewhere in more established suburbs in the inner-north of Melbourne.
Safety and increased green space were simply not considered good enough reasons to inconvenience car traffic in the short cut to Queens Parade from the city.
I am now turning my attention to how this debate has shaped our community dynamic and connections.
