Overdue greening for Davisons Place

A City of Melbourne project aimed at greening Davisons Place, which has been in the pipeline for more than a year, is still more than four months away from completion. 

A council spokesperson told CBD News in July that the project, which will see four planter boxes installed on the western side of the laneway at Davisons Place with climbing plants, would be ready for installation in 10-12 weeks.

It comes after City of Melbourne council officer Gordon Harrison told an East Enders residents group meeting in June that he was “embarrassed” at how long the project was taking council to finish. 

“I’m really embarrassed about that. There is budget for it, the budget has been made available. Our sustainability branch has been working on that for the last 12 months, so the money is there, it’s just waiting to be done,” he said. 

“Where we’ve got to with that now is that the materials have been ordered and manufactured, as in the planter boxes, so as I said I’m embarrassed that it’s taken so long. You can expect that it will happen but unfortunately it’s just taking way too long.”

A council spokesperson said that fabrication of the planter boxes had begun and that climbing plants would be added shortly after. 

“Two of the planter boxes will be drilled into the existing bluestone kerb on the ledge next to the La Trobe Gardens carpark that fronts onto Davisons Place. This will ensure safety and stability for pedestrians and vehicles using the laneway,” the spokesperson said. 

“A further two planter boxes will be installed on a private balcony in the middle of Davisons Place to provide vertical greening. This will be visible to everyone in the immediate area and provide additional greening without taking up limited kerbside