Executive summaries from the Union Road, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert Community Reference Group (CRG) meetings will be made available on this webpage.

Executive summaries

Meeting Six – 16 August 2021

The sixth meeting welcomed the chair Paul Hamer MP, CRG members and project team.

Following months of community consultation, the project provided an update on 2 major design enhancements for the project:

• The pedestrian bridge between Hamilton Street and Beresford Street will be widened to form a new heritage plaza at Mont Albert. The plaza will feature the historic Mont Albert Station building returning it back to the shopping village close to its original location
• New station entrance at Surrey Hills from Montrose Street which will deliver a new drop-off area, a landscaped pocket park, better connections and further improved accessibility with less stairs and gentle ramps
• Even more open space and trees for the community when combined with the existing plans

Based on previous discussions, the project team sought feedback from the CRG on priorities and considerations for the Mont Albert drop-off area and provided an overview on trader engagement:

• Considerations between maximising usable open space for Mont Albert and configuring the drop-off zone closer to the station entrance
• Overview of trader engagement plans and engagement to date
• Key feedback and ideas gathered from the recently held co-design workshops

Key interests included:

• Traffic layout, measures and considerations traveling along Mont Albert Road
• New heritage plaza and open space at Mont Albert
• Traffic and consultation considerations for Surrey Hills
• New connections between the north and south of the rail line at Surrey Hills
• Open space and safety considerations for the Mont Albert drop-off area
• Open space plans at Surrey Hills
• Early works

Meeting Five – 14 July 2021

A walking site tour was held with members of the group at Surrey Hills and Mont Albert.

Meeting Four – 16 June 2021

The fourth meeting welcomed the chair Paul Hamer MP, CRG members, project team and external facilitator.

The project provided an overview of updated designs:

• Several new artist impressions of the station and station precinct
• Benefits of the new premium station including modern station facilities, more frequent services, fully accessible platforms, and weather protection
• Architectural layout and key principles
• How community feedback has influenced the design
• Features and benefits for the Surrey Hills and Mont Albert station precinct

Consultation is available on Engage Victoria and a number of community information sessions are planned to be held.

Key interests included:

• Landscaping, vegetation and trees around the station precinct and Lorne Parade Reserve
• Configuration and layout for the Mont Albert drop-off area
• Pedestrian connections around the station precinct
• Play area at Lorne Parade Reserve
• Materials and features of the new station building and canopy
• Details of the station buildings at the Surrey Hills concourse

Meeting Three – 28 April 2021

The third meeting welcomed the chair Paul Hamer MP, CRG members, project team and external facilitator.

A number of actions were discussed and closed.

The project will consider upcoming meetings being a hybrid of face-to-face and online.

The project provided a summary of the previous phase of community consultation including:

• What design elements the project sought feedback on (e.g. overall look and feel, how you want to use the new station precincts, materials, screening and barriers, pedestrian and cycling connections)
• Summary of community engagement including thousands of visits to the engagement hub, hundreds of door knocks, and thousands of pieces of feedback received
• A snapshot of the feedback received from engagement
• How community feedback has helped influence the designs.

An update on the project planning boundary was provided:

• Canterbury Oval and the southern and eastern ovals at Surrey Park won’t be used and have been removed from the project boundary
• The project will continue to work with Melbourne Baseball Club to plan for and mitigate impacts.

An overview of the underground utility services and infrastructure involved in the project was provided:

• Rail infrastructure such as a Combined Services Route (CSR) will need to be installed
• The rail trench requires changes to underground drainage
• Additional site investigation works have been ongoing since December 2020 to gather information to further develop the updated designs that will be released by mid-2021.

Key topics of interest from group members included:

• Tree and vegetation plans and impacts
• Lorne Parade Reserve plans
• Decking over the trench
• Construction planning and impact mitigation
• Stage of updated designs to be released mid-2021 - preliminary and not final
• Plans for Union Road and Mont Albert/Hamilton Street
• Upcoming community consultation plans.

Meeting Two – 31 March 2021

Design workshop, part 2

The second meeting welcomed the chair Paul Hamer MP, CRG members, project team and external facilitator.

Actions from part one of the design workshop were discussed and covered later in the workshop.

The project shared information on the urban design and architecture response focusing on the Surrey Hills precinct. The update touched on:

• The narrative, design aspiration and design response
• Updated design overview of the Surrey Hills precinct

Key topics of interest from group members included:

• Vehicle drop-off areas in the precinct
• Upcoming community consultation and engagement around the updated designs (expected to be released by mid-2021)
• Challenges to building pedestrian and cycling underpasses at Mont Albert Road and Union Road
• Station car parking upgrades
• Better cycling connections
• Bike parking and storage
• Vegetation impacts and new landscaping

Meeting One – 24 March 2021

Design workshop, part one

The first meeting welcomed the chair Paul Hamer MP, CRG members, project team and external facilitator.

Following introductions and general meeting formalities, the group was provided with an overview of their role in the CRG and how the group will be run after the first two workshops.

An overview of the level crossing removal project was provided:

• Design process and key steps
• Removal of the Union Road and Mont Albert level crossings with a rail trench and new premium station
• Premium station facilities, more services more often, safer and more accessible station and entrances for both Surrey Hills and Mont Albert communities
• Construction planning update

The group was provided an overview of project engagement to date and what we heard during the recent phase of consultation. The project then touched on next steps in community engagement this year which includes upcoming virtual and face-to-face opportunities and updated designs released by mid 2021.

The project shared information on the urban design and architecture response focusing on the Mont Albert precinct for workshop one. The update touched on:

• The narrative, design aspiration and design response
• Updated design overview of the Mont Albert precinct
• Building materials and details being considered

Key topics of interest from group members included:

• Improved pedestrian access and connections from the new station to Mont Albert and Hamilton Street shopping village
• Upcoming community consultation and engagement around the updated designs (expected to be released by mid-2021)
• Vehicle access at the new Mont Albert drop-off area
• How community feedback has shaped the designs