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'Field Notes' is a fortnightly column in which Regen Melbourne's Lead Convenors provide on-the-ground updates and insights from their work and focus areas.
At the Sustainable Living Festival in late February, Regen Streets Lead Convenor Nina Sharpe was invited on a stroll through Braybrook – and asked to consider what a regenerated Ashley Street precinct could look like with people and nature at its core.
On a summer Sunday during peak Taylor Swift mania in Melbourne, another pocket of brilliance was emerging over on Ashley Street, Braybrook, in the city's west.
The 'Co Designing Our Streets' workshop was an opener for an emerging partnership between Green Collect, Bike West, Better Streets, City of Maribyrnong and Regen Melbourne, who together imagine a very different future for Ashley St.
Community members met at Tottenham Station where Bike West member Elena Pereyra provided some history and context before leading the group on a walk. We lived the experience as pedestrians and observed the experience of others.
Our walk concluded at Green Collect, where co-founder Sally Quinn described the impact that a simple seating space has had on the community. Since building it two years ago, damage to the adjoining bus shelter has completely ceased.
Participants recorded their experience of Ashley St. Together we noticed a lack of bike paths, too-fast driving behaviours, cracked paving, damaged fences and lack of greenery. But there were many positives: people were walking and riding already, established trees, cared-for front yards and a wonderful diversity of people.
Two words were put to everyone: imagine if.
"Our youngest imaginer wished for more animals in general, with a specific request for dinosaurs and five-humped camels."
Together we concocted a vision for Ashley St. to become a destination of choice. A fun commercial hub with thriving local business, social enterprise and equal access to both blue and green spaces.
We imagined playgrounds, outdoor exercise equipment, water drinking stations and plenty of open space. A great yearning for more green spaces as native landscapes, large trees, chirping birds and flowers creating a biodiversity corridor.
We closed by watching Together We Cycle, a film investigating the critical events that led to the revival of Dutch cycling culture. Here we have the humble beginnings of a Regen Street – the rest of the magic is soon to come.
