We plan to make some improvements to Dickins Corner shopping strip, located at the busy intersection of Doncaster and Burke roads in Balwyn North. The aim is to:

  • enhance the shopping strip’s appearance
  • add more greenery while minimising any loss of car parking
  • improve accessibility and safety for pedestrians.

About the improvements

These improvements include:

  • upgrading the footpaths using asphalt
  • installing public furniture like seating, bins and bicycle hoops
  • greening the shopping strip by installing garden beds and stainless-steel climbing frames for Jasmine plants to grow on
  • adding more shade to the shopping strip and car parks by planting 11 new trees (shown as pink circles on the plan below)
  • making some kerb and level adjustments to the north side of Maud Street near Burke Road to create more separation between the car parks and the footpath.

Select the Hotspots below to view the plan. The green circles represent existing trees to be retained.

Base map showing Dickins Corner shopping strip.

Please note: All design elements shown are subject to change based on final budget review, authority approvals and site conditions.

Community consultation

From Monday 21 August to 5 pm Sunday 10 September 2023, community members, business operators and commercial property owners/landlords were invited to provide feedback on:

  • converting some car parking spaces into space for new trees.

In the past, some businesses in the shopping strip made requests for additional permit and medium-term parking spaces in the Council-owned car park. In accordance with Council’s Parking Management Policy and Procedures 2017, business operators in this shopping area were also invited to provide feedback on:

  • converting nine of the ‘Unrestricted’ parking spaces on the eastern boundary of the car park to ‘Trader Permit Zone’ parking spaces
  • changing nine 2-hour parking spots into 4-hour parking spots.

Outcome of consultation with businesses on proposed parking changes

We visited all businesses in the area and sent letters inviting their feedback on this proposal. Only one business provided feedback during the consultation.

Given the very low response rate, in line with Council’s Parking Management Policy and Procedures (2017), these proposed parking changes won’t happen.

For more information about this decision, contact our Traffic and Transport team at boroondara@boroondara.vic.gov.au or call (03) 9278 4444.

Next steps

We’re working through the final details of the design for these improvements, based on our community’s feedback and the budget available.

We’ll share the final design with you later this year. Works are then expected to commence in early-2025.