City of Melbourne floats swimmable Yarra future

Could the idea of diving into Victoria Harbour on a hot day soon become more than a dream?

Momentum behind the “swimmable city” movement in Melbourne has taken a major step forward, with City of Melbourne councillors due to consider a motion on July 29 to investigate what actions the council can take to support the vision of a swimmable Yarra River (Birrarung) before 2050.

The motion, brought by Cr Davydd Griffiths, the council’s environment portfolio lead, follows growing public and political interest in restoring safe access to the river. It calls for a comprehensive investigation into what the council can do, how it can work with other levels of government, and where along the river trial swim spots might be established.

Cr Griffiths’s motion also noted recent comments from Lord Mayor Nick Reece, who told the Herald Sun in July that he believed the Birrarung could be swimmable “well before the year 2050”.

The move aligns with a wider global trend of cities transforming formerly industrial waterways into safe and inviting spaces to swim, with the Seine in Paris, Rotterdam’s harbour, and New York’s Hudson and East Rivers among leading examples.

Here in Melbourne, attention has increasingly turned to Docklands – particularly Victoria Harbour – as an ideal location to trial public swimming.

Closed off from the lower Yarra’s main channel, the harbour’s calmer waters offer a unique setting for pilot interventions. Feasibility studies dating back to 2022 have previously identified sites near Bolte West and Ron Barassi Snr Park as promising candidates.

For local advocates like Matt Sykes from Regen Melbourne, who recently represented the city at the Swimmable Cities Summit in Rotterdam, Docklands could play a pivotal role in reimagining the river-city relationship.

In an interview with Docklands News in June, Mr Sykes said that “there’s no reason Melbourne can’t follow the lead of cities like Paris and Rotterdam. Victoria Harbour has everything you need – it’s protected, accessible and symbolic of where the city meets the water.”

Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in the School of Global, Urban & Social Studies at RMIT University Dr Rebecca Olive said the backdrop of the Paris Olympics should motivate Melbourne to follow suit.

“‘Swimmability’ should be part of a healthy city and hopefully international examples, like the success in Paris, will encourage the Victorian Government, councils and community to work towards creating cleaner and safer access to the Yarra for public swimming,” Dr Olive said.

“Swimmability in urban environments provides many benefits. It creates more nature positive and regenerative cities that are more climate resilient, and generates the economy by supporting recreation businesses, hospitality and tourism.”

“But before that happens, we would need to overcome the current barriers to swimming in the Yarra, including water quality, access points, boat traffic, stormwater and safety.”

“Local community groups have already been working towards making the Yarra swimmable, but we also need the support of governments and local councils to make it happen.”

The motion to be considered on July 29 called for council officers to report back before the end of 2025 with findings on costs, responsibilities, timeframes and potential locations for public swimming infrastructure. 

If adopted, the investigation would mark the City of Melbourne’s most formal step yet towards joining the global “Swimmable Cities” network – a movement already embraced by the neighbouring City of Yarra, which last year became Australia’s first official signatory to the Swimmable Cities Charter.

While previous efforts, such as the shelved Yarra Pools concept at Enterprize Park, have struggled to get off the ground, advocates say Docklands may be Melbourne’s best second chance to take the plunge. •