The Victoria Street precinct in Richmond and Abbotsford is a vibrant dining, shopping and cultural destination. However, the area also faces challenges in relation to public safety, liveability, community connectedness and economic prosperity, which are often the result of drug-related activity.

We’re working to make Victoria Street a safer, more attractive and welcoming place for everyone.

Litter and graffiti

We clean Victoria Street and the surrounding streets daily.

Street bins are emptied daily and we're working with businesses to reduce the number of commercial rubbish bins being left on the street.

Our graffiti crews clean posters and graffiti from Yarra City Council assets (such as bins, signs and poles) daily. This does not include private property (e.g. shopfronts).

CCTV

In October 2017 the Victorian government installed 13 CCTV cameras in and around Victoria Street. These include:

• Eight cameras affixed to three poles on the east side of Lennox Street, between Victoria and Highett streets, and
• Five cameras affixed to two poles on Victoria Street, one located on the corner of Nicholson Street (on the eastern side) and the other installed opposite Little Lithgow Street (southern side of Victoria Street).

Improving the streetscape

In 2015, we adopted the Victoria Street streetscape masterplan to guide future streetscape improvements in the Victoria Street precinct.

Recent upgrades have included:

• the Lennox Street/Nicholson Street intersection
• paved footpaths and roadways to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists
• improved lighting
• new seating and other furniture
• new street bins
• new landscaping
• new bicycle hoops
• new protective guards for street trees
• renewing existing garden beds with new soil and vegetation

These improvement projects were funded by Yarra City Council and the Victorian government’s Community Crime Prevention Program.

Shopfront improvements

We are in the third and final year of our pilot program to help business owners improve their shopfronts and enhance the appearance of Victoria Street.

With the Victoria Street Business Association, we are working with a number a number of Victoria Street traders to refurbish their shopfronts and roller shutters with funding and in-kind support. This has included supporting 10 shops and 15 roller shutters with artwork designed by local children. This year, five new businesses will have their roller shutters improved.

Parking and traffic

We are working to improve local streets and the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in and around Victoria Street. This process is known as a Local Area Place Making Study (LAPMS). 

We have undertaken 2 rounds of community consultation for Abbotsford (in the area bounded by Johnston Street, Hoddle Street, Victoria Street and the Yarra River). We received hundreds of ideas and responses from the local community. We have developed a traffic management and placemaking plan to help make Abbotsford safer and easier to walk and cycle. This final plan is likely to be delivered from 2019/20 subject to funding.

More information

On 8 October 2019 a report was presented to council on a range of actions taken to address public health, amenity and safety issues raised by residents and traders in the North Richmond/Abbotsford precinct. It also identified further actions which could be taken and identified timelines and interim measures that we could undertake.

For further information, please refer to the Council Report and associated Council Resolution from 8 October.