Our changing coastline

Council is upgrading the Altona Beach Precinct as works continue with the urban renewal of Pier Street from Queen Street to the Esplanade, the upgrade of Weaver Reserve, the proposed closure of the Esplanade between Bent Street and Pier Street, a new beach entry to the main swimming beach at the bottom of Pier Street, raising of the seawall to accommodate sea level rise and storm surges associated with climate change, the realignment of the shared trail to behind the seawall and a new pedestrian beach access between McBain Street and Correa Street near Webb Street.

Alongside all these works, Parks Victoria are also looking to upgrade the Altona Pier. You can keep informed of the status of the Altona Pier at www.engage.vic.gov.au

All these projects interconnect and it is important to look at them in perspective to ensure what Council constructs works for the community, local groups, visitors, and Council. There are certain infrastructure items that we must achieve to ensure the ongoing protection of both public and private assets along our foreshore. However, there are also quite a few items that you can provide input into to help shape this important public space.

The What we Heard documents for the August consultation process are available for you to view in the document library in each project tile below.

The final concept plans for the Pier Street Stage 4 and Weaver Reserve are now available for public comment. The community is invited to provide feedback on these final concept plans over a four week period from Wednesday 24 March until Wednesday 21 April 2021.

For approximate construction dates for each of the projects please refer to the timeline on the right of the screen.

Community Drop in Session

Members of the project team will be available to talk through the plans and answer any question you might have.

Come and chat on:

Wednesday 14 April 2021

Altona Lifesaving Club, Weaver Reserve

drop by anytime between 5pm and 7pm

What is happening to the outdoor trading section between Blyth and Queen Streets?

This section of Pier Street was closed to vehicle traffic and outdoor dining implemented to ensure the economic viability of the Altona Shopping Precinct during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Council understands that the traders and the community would like to see this continue in some form in the future. however, there are many considerations that need to be worked through before we determine what happens in this space. Council is consulting with the community on the Hobsons Bay Business has Heart Outdoors extended trading initiative. Click here to provide your feedback.

Members of the Hobsons Bay Business has Heart outdoors project will be available to chat to at the Wednesday drop in session.

We threw out the challenge to be bold and innovative in this space and that we can build something that to ensure positive social and economic growth and activity in this area. This has been highlighted particularly through the last year with COVID-19 pandemic.

This section of Altona involves many factors:

• It is the major shopping precinct for local Altona residents.
• The precinct includes a train station which provides easy access to the trading precinct and beach, drawing a large range of users to the precinct.
• A number of community facilities sit within the precinct including the Altona Library, the Louis Joel Arts and Community Center, art gallery, senior’s facility and the Altona Homestead (home of the Altona Laverton Historical Society).
• Ongoing seasonal parking issues in the trading and beach precinct, creating increased parking demand and pressure onto residential streets.
• It is one of the two main swimming beaches in the west and draws people from all suburbs in the western region of Melbourne during the warmer months.
• The beach sits adjacent to the major trading precinct for the area and has significant open space linking them together.
• Council is in the process of minimising the number of gaps in the seawall and raising it to protect the community from future sea level rise and storm surge events associated with the effects of climate change.
• Drainage is particularly challenging as Altona is low lying and generally flat. Once water gets behind the seawall it is difficult to get it back out into the sea.

Get Involved

The consultation has been separated into a number of topics. Please click into the project tiles below to read the information and provide your feedback on Pier Street Stage 4 and the Weaver Reserve Upgrade.

Click here to see new images of the Seawall alignment and proposed shared trail.