Greening Cromwell Street, Collingwood

Greening Cromwell Street is a community of custodians for Cromwell Street Collingwood who are regenerating their local environment. Their purpose is to join businesses, social enterprises and residents together to Green Cromwell Street in a way that engages and connects so that the soul of the street is revealed.

STREAT, Cultivating Community, Regen Melbourne, City of Yarra and i2C Architects have come together as the Greening Cromwell Street custodians and have identified areas they can bring new energy and spirit.

Pockets of Green Oasis – there is a beautiful oasis pocket at the oldest building on the street, number 66, STREAT and at number 29, i2C brings colour and vibrancy with the Beastman mural but there is little connection in between. There is an opportunity to improve the biodiversity, signage and window stories.

Stories and Connections – the street’s soul has been covered in concrete. There is an opportunity to create a sensory journey along Cromwell Street to encourage conversation, sharing and community care. STREAT has researched archives to uncover stories that can be shared.

Dwell Time – there is nowhere to sit, gather or rest on the street. There is often litter and tagging on Comwell Street, which reflects a lack of pride and ownership.   

Propagating workshops

Free workshops were offered for businesses and residents who reside on Cromwell St. The sessions looked at what plants were suitable for propagating, how to take cuttings, and how to prepare and cut these plants to get the best results.

The workshops encouraged people to bring in cuttings from their own gardens that could be shared with others at the workshop to help build the plant bank.

The aspirations for Greening Cromwell St will be as a leading regenerative street in Melbourne where people can come to breathe, explore, and connect. People will dwell longer in and around Cromwell Street. There will be an increase in bird and insect life. There will be less tagging and litter on the street as a result of the project and it will lead the way for other streets to adopt a similar approach.