Joni Mitchell famously sang about the pitfalls of paving over a green paradise and replacing it with a parking lot. We're doing the opposite, transforming Melbourne car parks from grey to green through our fabulous Urban Forest Fund.
On the roof of a 9-storey Docklands car park, volunteers harvest vegetables and herbs on a farm high above the traffic and bustle of the city.
There’s an orchard, bees move between planter boxes, and birds flit about helping to pollinate. For a moment, the city feels quieter and greener.
“It’s often described as a mindful experience, even though it’s right in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.”
That sense of calm is something Alana Roberts from OzHarvest sees time and again among the volunteers who spend time on the rooftop farm, foraging for produce to be used in OzHarvest’s Cooking for a Cause program.
“Volunteering alongside Skyfarm’s Urban Farmer Dario is one of our most popular shifts,” Alana said.
“Our volunteers are always asking when the next one will be.”
Known as Melbourne Skyfarm External link, the 2,000 m² rooftop began life as the underused top level of a high-rise car park.
It’s undergoing a remarkable transformation, thanks to funding from the City of Melbourne’s Urban Forest Fund, as well as support from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. It will open to the public this year.
Melbourne urban greening grants
The Urban Forest Fund is our city-greening community grants initiative that provides matched financial support to help green private property, from small planting boxes on balconies to large-scale tree planting, vertical gardens and water-saving urban design.
Melbourne Skyfarm is one of 21 projects that the fund has invested in since it began in 2017.
The fund has already contributed more than $3.2 million in funding to help create over 42,400 m² of new green cover across the city.
We've supersized the Urban Forest Fund to support more projects than ever, with up to $1 million of total matched funding up for grabs this year. Applications are now open.
It's part of our mission to maximise urban greening and establish Melbourne as the garden city.
That kind of transformation is critical if the city is to meet its ambitious goal of boosting canopy cover from 22% to 40% by 2040.
With almost 75% of land in the municipality privately owned or managed, the future of Melbourne’s urban forest depends on the ideas, energy and enthusiasm of the community.
Big or small – all greening projects count
Skyfarm is one example of the many projects supported by the Urban Forest Fund, but not all greening projects need to be as big.
We’ll also fund vines to green a laneway or planter boxes to brighten up a residential communal space. It all counts.
Eight years ago, North Melbourne resident Ying-Lan Dann joined forces with her neighbours to apply for an Urban Forest Fund grant to bring new life and more greenery to her Haines Street apartment complex.
“When we moved in, my kids were energetic 6- and 8-year-olds and I kind of lamented all the car space and lack of social space in our building,” Ying said.
In another ode to Joni, the Haines Street residents took their concrete car park and turned it into a green space for residents to relax and connect with each other and nature.
“It’s been so lovely to see how the community has come together around this project. Particularly the kids," Ying said.
“It’s like having a bunch of lorikeets – they all flock to the space to play in the garden, shoot hoops at the basketball net we had installed and play soccer together.
“It’s not just kids in our block either. The other day we had a knock on the door and a kid from up the street said he doesn’t live here but can he play in our courtyard?"
Apartments in the block are now selling above reserve, as the community get together for six-monthly working bees, Christmas parties and maybe even a car-boot sale with neighbouring apartment buildings.
“It showed us that this is not just about greening – all these other great benefits emerged.
“It’s really brought us all together. The whole street is asking questions – how did you do this, what do we need to do to do the same?”
Ying-Lan Dann, Owner and resident, Owners Committee member, architect
My name is Ying-Lan Dann. I am a resident here at 61 Haines Street in North Melbourne. I moved here 2 years ago with my family and when I saw the site here, I was really keen to involve myself with the community, get to know the people. I thought that there was a great potential for there to be more space for kids to play, and more green space.
Carla Campbell Redl, owner and resident, President of the Owners Committee
The idea to do landscaping, to make a property a really nice place to be for us, and our community has been on the cards for a long time, but landscaping a property like this was something that needed a lot more funding.
Madeleine, owner and resident
Things were starting to look a little tired. Lovely construction, but 50 years on, you know, time to do some work on it.
Thomas, owner and resident
It was quite an arid garden, so the opportunity to get Melbourne City Council involved and create a project with the people on the committee was a really exciting concept.
Carla Campbell Redl
During a committee meeting, one of our members suggested that we could look to the Urban Forest Project and perhaps move our project forward. And with the help of really committed members, we were able to access it.
Ying-Lan Dann
What we're sitting on here is new seating that was acquired through urban forest funding. We received a funding amount that we matched 50%. And as an architect, I was able to draw the project up and procure it.
Madeleine
One of the wonderful things was work beginning in April, because everyone was home. So instead of being in our flats, we're all out on the balcony saying, look at this, isn't this fantastic? And then we had a real common community bond, if you like, to talk about the progress of the work, how much we loved the design, how wonderful it was, and it's just got better ever since.
Jan, owner and resident
The landscaping has lifted the whole place. It's given it some colour, it's given it some softness. And the other thing that it's done, which I guess was part of the planning, is slowed down the vehicles coming in and made it a safer place to live as well.
Vivian, owner and resident
It's made it a lot greener and more lush. It's more pleasant to be outside. Having the security gates as well means that you can go down and you can feel safe and welcomed.
Tyler, Miriam and Stella, owners and residents
Veggie patch, all the jasmine growing along the entrance way. The bike parking.
Carla Campbell Redl
What we have now, places where we interact with one another, stop and sit and talk, or we water the garden together. It's making our world a little friendlier, a little more comfortable to live in.
Ying-Lan Dann
We're really keen to see more green in the area, more community spaces and less vehicles. We're finding that the community is really interested in the project. We get lots of comments from the neighbours and are really sort of keen to see this whole part of North Melbourne, all of these 1963 apartments starting to bloom.
Apply for the super-sized Urban Forest Fund this year
Join the folks at Haines Street and Skyfarm to help us cool our city, reduce pollution, support biodiversity, and make our city a healthier place.
Choose the right funding stream based on the size and type of your project:
- Community greening grant – apply by 10 March: residential communal area uplifts, laneway greening, planter boxes and pots, garden bed revitalisation, food growing and biodiversity plantings.
- High-impact greening grant – apply by 20 April: green walls and facades, new green spaces with canopy cover, communal areas, rooftop gardens, water sensitive urban design and innovative design.
You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. We can all take steps to ensure Melburnians never have to miss the greenery that puts this garden city on the map. Find out more about the Urban Forest Fund.
