Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation Discussion Paper - Victorian ...

6
PUBLIC
OPEN SPACE IN
METROPOLITAN MELBOURNE
CHAPTER 6 discusses the contribution of
public open space to Melbourne’s liveability
and provides some background to open space
planning in the metropolitan area. It describes
the extent and ownership of public open space
across the investigation area, and discusses
some of the major issues associated with, and
future options for, providing public open space.
Comments are invited on a number of specific
issues throughout this chapter.
6.1 What is public
open space
6.1.2 OWNERSHIP OF PUBLIC
OPEN SPACE
Public open space within metropolitan Melbourne is
owned by the Crown, public authorities and local councils.
Open space is described at several levels, according to
the community (or catchment) it services: state, regional,
district and local. State-level open space, such as national
and State parks, is Crown land. Regional open space
is generally Crown land, although some proposed new
regional parks will be formed from a combination Crown
land, secondary use of public authority land and local
council land. Local and district open space is generally
owned by local councils.
Land owned by local councils is included in this discussion
of public open space as, although VEAC’s role is to
conduct investigations of public land, it considers that the
role of municipal land in the public open space network
must be acknowledged.
6.1.1 A DEFINITION
Any discussion of public open space requires an accepted
meaning of the term. The defi nition below was developed
by VEAC for this purpose.
Public open space is public land and local council land
that has an accepted and ongoing community use for
outdoor recreation and informal activities, and that is
freely accessible to the public.
The following matters were taken into account when
developing this defi nition:
6.1.3 CATEGORIES OF PUBLIC
OPEN SPACE
Open space differs according to its form, its uses and the
size of the community that it services. It can be land with
intact native vegetation, planted gardens, playgrounds,
running tracks or paved squares and promenades. Its use
for recreation can be secondary to other uses, such as
fl oodplain management, and it can be primarily used by
local neighbourhoods or by people from across the State
and beyond. Table 6.1 describes the different categories
of public open space in metropolitan Melbourne and the
catchments they service.
G Open space on public land and local council land is
generally more permanent than open space on private
land, such as privately-owned bushland, farmland and
golf courses.
G Public open space is largely unbuilt and available for
outdoor recreation (both organised sports and nonorganised
recreation, such as jogging, walking and
cycling) and informal activities (such as picnicking,
nature appreciation and reading).
G Public open space is freely accessible: that is, access
does not require exclusive club membership, and
entry is not prevented by physical barriers such as
permanently locked gates.
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