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September 25, 2026 \u2014 4:09pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The lush median strips of Carlton and Carlton North are a beloved shared backyard for residents. But how they should be used is now the latest battlefront in Melbourne\u2019s NIMBY versus YIMBY war.<\/p>\n On one side: those who love a glass of wine on a sunny afternoon on grassy strips in the middle of Canning, Rathdowne and Drummond streets. On the other: those who say the prized inner-city outdoor spaces have moved away from family-friendly fun to become overrun by drinkers causing chaos.<\/p>\n The fight ignited this week when The Age revealed alcohol consumption had been banned by the City of Yarra across all three streets after police were called on to figure out how to respond to sustained complaints from residents.<\/p>\n While Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly vowed to find some middle ground \u2013 no pun intended \u2013 that was not good enough for the state government. On Friday, Premier Ben Carroll waded into the battle.<\/p>\n \u201cConsider this unbanned. Because if council doesn\u2019t reverse it, we will reverse it for them,\u201d Carroll said.<\/p>\n What some locals say began as leisurely afternoon picnics when Wine Corner Store opened on the corner of Canning and Princes streets in 2016 has turned into \u201cstreet parties outside your house four or five nights a week\u201d, a petition signed by 30 residents and submitted to the City of Yarra Council in August stated.<\/p>\n Related Article The noise, as well as people standing on the road, smashed glass and drunken behaviour, including people urinating in a laneway behind their houses, have all increased over the past two years as more people began to use the median strip as an extension of the bar, the petition read.<\/p>\n \u201cResidents have raised these concerns directly with the owner, who has made some changes we appreciate. The core problem remains, however. The owner says that many of those now gathering arrive of their own accord, with their own alcohol, and that he cannot control the numbers on the median. The practical result is that a commercial activity the venue actively promotes has spilled onto public land, on a residential street, on a scale far beyond what the premises is approved to hold, and with no effective management or accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve Mifsud-Ellul, the bar\u2019s owner and a local himself, disputed these claims, saying he is not responsible for where people who have purchased takeaway alcohol from the bar consume it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve [residents] expected me to change and police the public in a public space, which I have no jurisdiction over.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Mifsud-Ellul said people drinking on the strip have access to the bar\u2019s bathroom facilities and rubbish bins, and in response to recent incidents, extra staff had been rostered to ensure the lawn was tidied during busy periods.<\/p>\n Established in the 1930s, the distinctive median strips are a rarity in Melbourne. Over time, they have become an iconic image of inner-city life and a haven for locals to gather and interact, with many of the terrace houses along the streets having little or no outdoor space.<\/p>\n For Drummond Street resident Kii Belling and his housemates, part of the reason they were happy to live in a smaller house was because of the median strips.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIt\u2019s such a lovely part of living in that area,\u201d the filmmaker said.<\/p>\n \u201cMany times, we\u2019ve just been out there hanging out as friends, and we\u2019ll end up meeting the neighbours and chatting with other locals. It creates such a great, genuine and tangible sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n One signatory of the petition, who has lived on Canning Street for 15 years and asked not to be named for fear of backlash, agreed that interactions like Belling\u2019s are what makes the area \u201ca really nice, friendly neighbourhood\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe drinking and people gathering on the median strip is just fine. I see that\u2019s what they\u2019re for \u2013 locals, families, kids kicking the footy, all that. No worries.\u201d<\/p>\n But she said the mood has changed, with much larger crowds now turning out and the behaviour becoming rowdier over the past 18 months.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the business [Wine Corner Store] exploiting the situation because they don\u2019t have the facilities to accommodate that number of people, in addition to their licensed premises being close to full,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Photographs submitted with the petition and seen by this masthead include a group of men urinating in a laneway on residents\u2019 back fences, a man vomiting on Canning Street, Lime bikes abandoned on the footpath and median strip, and broken glass and rubbish throughout the area.<\/p>\n But despite being considered de facto parks by many, these median strips are technically a part of the road, which means alcohol is banned.<\/p>\n When this rule came to light, Mifsud-Ellul warned patrons they risked police action if they stayed \u2013 sparking the saga of the past week.<\/p>\n Mayor Jolly said he asked council to look at reclassifying the median strip as a park, as well as investigate an option to have Wine Corner Store obtain a parklet or outdoor trading permit.<\/p>\n Edward Crossland, the City of Yarra councillor for the Curtain Ward, which takes in the three streets, said on Thursday he planned to bring a motion to the next council meeting to deal with \u201cthe genuine amenity issues being experienced by residents\u201d without radically changing how the median strips are used.<\/p>\n \u201cRather than working through those issues and looking at practical ways to manage them, council jumped straight to an end point \u2013 restricting something that has long been a special part of this place,\u201d Crossland said on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n The premier\u2019s intervention was a \u201cbit of an overreach\u201d, Crossland said. \u201cThis is something that can be resolved by a council motion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[The government] just announced the licence for pubs to 3am and that they\u2019re also going to now allow dogs in pubs at the discretion of the publican,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of which is good, but we\u2019ve been asking for that for years … [and] they\u2019re only doing it now coming up to an election.\u201d <\/p>\n The community division is indicative of a larger debate about gentrification, renters versus home owners, the cost of living, and how to create community.<\/p>\n Curtain Ward, which is an area of about 1.58 square kilometres, includes some of Melbourne\u2019s most coveted real estate. Home to more than 11,000 people \u2013 of which more than 49 per cent are renters<\/a> \u2013 the ward\u2019s residents earn a median weekly income of $2338, well above the national median of $1436.<\/p>\n Locals Abbey Dyson, 29, and Tara Faulkner, 28, who both started a \u201cFree the strip\u201d petition, are focused on how to remedy the situation rather than who or what caused it.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we actually work constructively to try and mitigate any issues that might come up, like investing in more public toilets or bins or curfews?\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be one or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n Dyson said there\u2019s a \u201clot to play with that can make this really amazing\u201d.<\/p>\n In a 2004 article published by this masthead recalling his childhood in the area, novelist Arnold Zable described the median strips as his \u201cmost affectionate memory of Carlton\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cigarettes glowing in the dark, the murmur of quiet talk, and the smell of grass on the median strip as we played epic cricket matches late into the Carlton night. But we could play only one shot well, a straight drive. Otherwise, we would have smashed windows on either side.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n From our partners![\"Melburnians](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4bf486323462e023474f1d46bedbdcb5455f01cf.jpeg\")
Melburnians enjoy a picnic on Drummond Street\u2019s median strip on Friday. Joe Armao<\/p>\n![\"Patrons](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/09131a6cfa9949f337be9658c447d5360124e5d8.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Patrons](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/7f43feaee35d53ca219f37ce8f8e2cce69b22d07.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Patrons](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eec495ae8abc2997b87c65978b261c781ea51d54.jpeg\")
Patrons at the Wine Corner Store and on the nature strip on Canning Street in Carlton North.\u00a0Instagram: thewinecornercarlton<\/p>\n