Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on this project. You can now read what we heard from community and traders in a brief engagement summary or in the full engagement summary report.

This project went to a Council Meeting on Wednesday 15 May 2024.

The following recommendation was passed by vote:

That Council:

3.1 Endorses the scope for the South Melbourne Market’s overarching program of capital works “Project Connect”, excluding line 1 of part 6B of the scope being the ‘Closure of Cecil Street northbound to traffic, extend public and tenanted outdoor space’ only.

3.2 Requests officers to bring a report back to Council to consider the possible closure of Cecil Street to allow for separate consideration of this matter.

3.3 Notes the feedback from Community Consultation program on Project Connect and the Market’s Days and Hours.

3.4 Notes there is no proposal to change current Market trading hours and days at this time.

3.5 Authorises the CEO, or their delegate, to make minor adjustments to the Project Connect Scope during concept design as required to ensure alignment with compliance and renewal requirements and strategic vision

When minutes from this Council Meeting are made available in the coming days, you will be able to find them here.

Your feedback will now help to inform development of the draft Concept Design.

Further community and trader engagement on this project will take place in late 2024 - early 2025. To stay in the loop about this project, click the 'Follow' button at the top of this page.

• 61% female, 35% male and 1% non-binary participants or participants who use a different term
• 80 traders - 46 South Melbourne Market traders and 34 local traders
• 8% of participants speak a language other than English at home
• 8% of participants identify as LGBTIQA+
• 5% of participants identify as a person with disability
• 1% of participants have an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background.

The majority of participants lived near the Market, with:

• 26% of participants from South Melbourne
• 19% of participants from Port Melbourne.

• 859 online surveys
• 97 contributions at 5 pop-up conversations
• 5 focus groups
• 4 hard copy surveys
• 2 emails.

Established in 1867, the much-loved South Melbourne Market is the oldest continuing market in Melbourne.

Over time, the Market has undergone regular improvements to accommodate the growing needs of its traders and the local community, to meet changing regulations, and to make sure it continues to deliver a safe, accessible and enjoyable market experience for years to come.

We are reviewing the Market's trading hours and days, and planning some changes to the building and surrounding streets to make it safer and more accessible, while also improving the visitor experience. The changes will include:

• more toilet facilities
• better footpaths and aisle surface grading
• making the rooftop carpark more accessible
• easing the flow of traffic for vehicles and pedestrians
• a review of the public space on all three sides of the Market.

We’re connecting with our local community and traders to hear your preferences around when the Market is open, how you use the Market, how the proposed changes will impact you, and how you think we can improve public space around the Market.

You can join the conversation by:

• Completing the survey below, from 3 November - 3 December.
• Chatting to us in person at a community pop-up (dates and locations listed below).