Street Garden guidelines endorsed by Council
29 April 2024
Yarra’s first Street Garden Guidelines were endorsed by Council at the 9 April Council meeting.
Purpose of the consultation
Yarra City Council has developed Street Garden Guidelines to provide guidance on how the community can plan, plant and maintain gardens within Yarra’s streetscapes.
A street garden is any non-edible community planting in Council managed streetscapes like nature strips or existing tree plots.
The Guidelines are intended to inform the community about the various considerations for gardening in streetscapes across the municipality. They include safety, accessibility and tree protection requirements; and will recommend preferred species selections to increase biodiversity.
In November and December 2023, we asked the community to review the draft Street Garden Guidelines and let us know if we’ve covered everything that needs to be considered when planning a street garden.
What did we ask?
We asked the community to indicate to what extent they agreed with the roles, responsibilities outlined in the Street Garden guidelines, and the details of what can and can't be included in a street garden.
We also asked the community to let us know if anything was missing or if there was anything else that we needed to consider as we developed the Final Street Garden Guidelines.
Who did we hear from?
What we heard and how it influenced the final guidelines
We asked the community to indicate their level of agreement with statements about the Street Garden Guidelines. There was strong support for each of these statements, with a majority agreeing or strongly agreeing.
The final two questions were open ended. Some of the themes that emerged included:
| Theme | Response |
| Do we need Street Garden Guidelines? | We must ensure that footpaths are clear and safe for accessibility purposes and it's important to provide advice about the types of plant species that are planted. |
| The documents are too complicated. | We will take on board feedback and simplify content where possible. There will also be an online questionnaire (from June 2024) to provide a step-be-step process guide. |
| Existing street gardens should not be removed. | There are many existing valued, biodiverse and beautiful street gardens in Yarra. There is no expectation that these gardens be removed. However, we may need to modify or remove existing gardens if a specific concern is raised regarding safety, accessibility, or tree health. |
| What are the maintenance expectations? | It is expected that the garden is kept tidy, litter and dog poo should be collected and binned as required. |
| Neighbourhood consent and shared ownership. | If consent is required from a neighbour and/or any other affected property owner or tenant and is not granted, you are not able to proceed with your street garden. A street garden is considered to be available and accessible to the local neighbourhood. |
| Council support for street gardens and additional resources. | Street gardens are a community led initiative and Council provides limited support. We'll provide free mulch from the Clifton Hill Recyling drop off centre and advice through the street garden guidelines, including what species to plant. Residents can access additional information and resources in the documents and through our website (from June 2024). |
| People asking for clarification about acceptable locations for street gardens. | New street garden locations will only be approved if located within an existing lawn nature strip or existing tree square located within the footpath or road. All other locations fall outside of the project scope and are not supported by Council. |
| Biodiversity - strong support for 'do not plant' species list. | Council encourages indigenous and native plant species within the draft Guidelines to help enhance biodiversity in Yarra. However non-native/noninvasive species can also be selected for planting. We also provide advice on which species are noxious weeds and should not be planted. |
What comes next?
Using your feedback, we’ve developed Street Garden Guidelines along with a 'recommended' and 'do not plant' list of species, to provide direction to residents who want to plant gardens within our streetscapes.
From July 2024, residents can access the 'Online Yarra Street Garden Questionnaire' on the Yarra City Council website to determine if their proposed street garden complies with the guidelines and is supported by Council.
Visit the project page
To find out more about this consultation please visit the Street Garden guidelines page on Your Say Yarra.
