Contributing to Melbourne’s reputation as Australia’s sporting capital

September in Melbourne means football and Melburnians and visitors once again flocked to the city’s annual AFL Grand Final parade.

Melbourne loves its sport and there was more than one million visits to the City of Melbourne’s recreation centres, leased recreation facilities and sports fields in 2008–09.

Sports fields in the City of Melbourne are used for a range of activities, from football to frisbee, totalling around 21,000 organised sports visits each week. Despite drought conditions, careful management by the City of Melbourne and cooperation from sports clubs meant grounds remained open and sporting competition continued during the year.

More golfers teed off at the City of Melbourne’s Royal Park Golf Course in 2008–09, with a 4 per cent increase in the number of rounds played. Melbourne City Baths increased its gym and aquatic memberships by 8 per cent to 1,700 members and launched a new federal government-accredited school holiday program attracting 1,750 visits.

The City of Melbourne’s swimming pools rated highly in a safety audit by Lifesaving Victoria in 2008–09. Four of the municipality’s pools featured amongst Victoria’s five safest pools while Melbourne City Baths was awarded an excellent 99 per cent safety rating. (Points were only deducted for the concourse width, which cannot be altered because of the pool’s heritage listing.)

The City of Melbourne revised its Active Melbourne sports strategy in 2008–09. This 10-year strategy aims to improve Melburnians’ health and wellbeing, meet the challenges of maintaining the city’s sports fields in drought conditions and provide ongoing opportunities for outdoor physical and health-related activities.

Melbourne as a canvas for the arts

The continuing development of creative talent is integral to Melbourne. ArtPlay, the City of Melbourne’s dedicated arts centre for children and families, provided around 450 activities and events in 2008–09. The Big Draw Festival of Drawing in September 2008 attracted more than 600 participants.

The city’s laneways are a centrepiece of Melbourne’s flourishing arts scene and the 2008 Laneway Commissions transformed six laneways to celebrate art as part of everyday life. Projects included Agony / Ecstasy (Manton Lane) and Speed of Sound (Union Lane).

In 2008–09 Melbourne embraced Dance Massive, a 12-day national dance program across three venues, including the City of Melbourne’s Arts House. More than 90 per cent of performances sold out.

The Arts House Indigenous performance group, Black Arm Band, continued to receive critical acclaim at national and international festivals and around 5,000 people enjoyed the City of Melbourne’s inaugural Blak Night cinema, an Indigenous film festival in Treasury Gardens.

The City of Melbourne provides spaces for artworks and spaces for artists. In 2008–09 the former Boyd High School, part of the Creative Spaces program, was fully tenanted with 50 artists aged 19–80 years. Launched in February 2009, the program’s website has housed 65 artists to date through its online listings of available spaces for tenancy or hire and its register of artists seeking space in vacant or under-utilised buildings.

Other City of Melbourne arts activities in 2008–09 included commissioning a work for the Melbourne Town Hall’s Grand Organ, in partnership with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and the launch of the inaugural Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards. Photographers created images of sustainable Melbourne in the Eco City photo competition and sculptors vied for the prestigious Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture, supported by the City of Melbourne.

Better parking for residents and visitors

Managing parking in Melbourne for residents and visitors is crucial to safe, efficient traffic flow. In September 2008, Melbourne City Council endorsed the CBD and Docklands Parking Plan 2008–2013, a coordinated guide to managing parking in these areas.

Construction of the northern entrance car park at Melbourne Zoo was also completed. Ticketed parking now operates at all zoo car parks and a new nominal fee has been introduced to discourage commuter parking and ensure spaces for zoo visitors.
Victoria Police and the car parking industry partnered with the City of Melbourne in a range of safe parking operations including the launch of the Car Park Accreditation Scheme and Guidelines. The scheme provides a comprehensive guide for operators to improve car park safety and an accreditation rating system to promote and reward participating car parks.

On-street car parking for residents was also improved in 2008–09 with the Wheels and Heels program introduced to North Melbourne. Wheels and Heels provides local parking solutions to local areas, maximising resident access to parking in areas where on-street spaces are limited.

Promoting responsible pet ownership

In September 2008, the council adopted and started implementation of the City of Melbourne Domestic Animal Management Plan 2008–2011. Initiatives undertaken in 2008–09 included identifying strategies to increase registration rates of cats and dogs in the municipality, reviewing staff training relating to animal control and regulation and commencing a review of council's local laws to identify possible amendments relevant to animal management. The first annual statutory review of the plan, as required under the Domestic Animals Act (1994), will occur in the 2009–10 financial year.