Maritime Heritage Trails Guide

This has been a complex and evolving project – a first for Victorian maritime heritage tourism.

Given that Victoria Harbour is obviously a key part of our waterways, Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network (MMHN) hopes that the Docklands community will enjoy this comprehensive, illustrated, historically accurate three-part narrative of maritime heritage along our waterways. Access this resource on your mobile phone via the MMHN website: mmhn.org.au/heritage-trails

Victoria Harbour: A Port City – North Wharf to the East of Moonee Ponds Creek

Northbank: A Riverfront Port in the CBD – Birrarung Marr to the tip of North Wharf

Southbank: Billabongs to the Bolte Bridge – The Boat Sheds to the Bolte West Precinct

A reminder that the early colonial riverport of Melbourne grew at a cracking pace, driven by the discovery of gold, which triggered large-scale immigration. Maritime trade created the extraordinary prosperity of our city, once known as “Marvellous Melbourne”.

As ships grew in tonnage, import and export cargo grew in volume. Demand for wharf and berth space led to massive public investment in port infrastructure downstream from the CBD riverport on the Birrarung/Yarra River towards Port Philip Bay. Paradoxically, the greater the port, the less the public has access to and awareness of its operations. This is why MMHN have produced the Maritime Heritage Trail Guide so that the public can grasp the economic and cultural significance of maritime trade in this city.

Heritage Fleet Group in Victoria Harbour: Threats, solutions and action

Development Victoria (DV) has issued an eviction notice to the Heritage Fleet group (Alma Doepel, Enterprize and Wattle), requiring that the fleet clears and vacates Shed 2 on North Wharf by January 2026, effectively prohibiting any further restoration work on the vessels. Despite offering no viable relocation option, DV has offered $30,000 for each vessel with no reason for that stated.

The Heritage Fleet Group independently identified one viable, low-cost relocation option within Victoria Harbour which would enable restoration work to continue. The proposed site is on vacant land parallel to the MAB development site near the Ron Barassi Snr Park across from Victoria Harbour at NewQuay.

The Docklands community may have noticed a City of Melbourne barge used for staging the demolition works on Central Pier, which potentially could accommodate all three heritage vessels. As an interim step to enable restoration works to continue, temporary work sheds or shipping containers could be placed at this site. Access to a barge or platform is already in place via a gangway across the degraded seawall.

In the long term, a permanent Heritage Fleet group facility could be constructed at this site to ensure a Heritage Fleet presence remains in Docklands. The Heritage Fleet has investigated and costed this option, finding that, given the barge and gangway infrastructure is already operating, estimated relocation costs will be minimal. The City of Melbourne has been consulted in relation to planning issues and has no objections to this proposal.

It is our understanding that DV remain unsupportive. The DV agenda here is unclear, as DV’s own promotional material acknowledges the significance of the Heritage Fleet in Victoria Harbour. Now that a viable relocation option has emerged, MMHN has written to the Minister for Precincts, Harriet Shing, to intervene with DV to resolve this vexed matter. We live in hope.

Seawall along New Quay

Given that open space is so limited in Docklands, it is indeed regrettable that DV has, over so many years, resisted restoring the degraded Victoria Harbour seawall along NewQuay. This has prevented the Docklands community from being able to access a sizable linear park extending almost to the Bolte Bridge.

Development Victoria has stated that costs for this would be prohibitive. We note that a retaining seawall has been built on Harbour Esplanade where Central Pier used to be, understood to be at a relatively low cost of circa $1.5 million, without any the same community benefit a restored New Quay seawall would have.

“Our Ships’ Day of Protest”

The Heritage Fleet Group is organising a “Save Our Ships’ Day of Protest” on Sunday December 7, 10am to 2pm. Gather for community action on Harbour Esplanade, Docklands. •