Chapel Street.
Hawksburn Village.
Toorak Road.
Prahran Market.
South Yarra Ward has four of Melbourne's most distinctive commercial precincts. Each has its own character, its own community of traders and regulars, and its own story.
Visitor spend across the Stonnington municipality was up 11% year on year as of mid-2026: these precincts are performing, but there are many challenges to address.
Our Precincts
Chapel Street
Chapel Street isn't going back. It's becoming something else.
Chapel Street will not return to what it was twenty years ago, and it shouldn't be measured against that benchmark. Online shopping has permanently changed retail everywhere. Working from home has permanently changed weekday foot traffic across inner Melbourne. Neither is a Chapel Street problem, and no council plan, however well funded, will reverse either. What's actually happening is evolution: less destination retail, more experience, culture, food, wellness and nightlife.
Safety is the other half of this picture, and the lines of responsibility matter. Policing is a State Government responsibility, and Victoria Police is the primary responder on this street. Council's role is to fund the conditions around that: the Community Safety Partnership Officer, the mobile CCTV trailer, joint patrols, lighting upgrades, and outreach partnerships with Launch Housing and the Salvation Army. This year's budget puts $2.89 million behind that work. It's a genuine contribution, not a substitute for the State resourcing its own responsibilities.
The $4.07 million Year 2 Chapel Street Plan has my support because the work in it is real. But eleven survey responses from 1,573 trader ratepayers isn't real engagement, and a multi-million dollar plan deserves harder targets than "improving trend." I believe that the next progress report needs actual numbers on foot traffic, vacancy and safety sentiment, and this year's masterplan needs to finish with capital works attached, not roll forward with nothing built. We have been waiting long enough for action.
Chapel Street generates more contact to me than almost any other issue, and not all of it is flattering. That's a sign people haven't given up on this street. The simplest way to help it succeed is to keep showing up: book the table, stay for dessert, choose to eat local when you have the option.
Chapel Street by the numbers
$1 billion spent in the precinct in 2025, including $667 million from people visiting from outside Stonnington. 7.4 million visits across the year.
Greville Street Library: more than 4,000 visitors a month, a Council-delivered community asset, not a retail one.
Chapel Off Chapel: 40,000 patrons, 340 shows, $3.5 million delivered to the precinct. 90% of that audience came from outside the municipality.
$2.89 million invested in community safety this budget, across CSPIP, Local Laws, joint Victoria Police patrols, Stonnington Zero homelessness outreach with Launch Housing, and the Pink Car program with the Salvation Army.
Contact details for businesses
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Contact Victoria Sorbera,– Chapel Street Place Manager for general queries by emailing Vsorbera@stonnington.vic.gov.au.
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Contact Jessica Farrugia – Chapel Street Business Liaison Officer for connecting into Council’s services (permits, waste, cleaning etc) by emailing Chapelst@stonnington.vic.gov.au.
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Contact Dane Windley – Chapel Street Digital Marketing Officer to promote your business through our digital channels by emailing Dwindley@stonnington.vic.gov.au.
"Kate has consistently demonstrated strong leadership and unwavering commitment to supporting local businesses throughout the Chapel Street Precinct. Her steadfast advocacy has been crucial in fostering our resilience and facilitating our growth."
Matt Lanigan, General Manager, Chapel Street Traders Association
Hawksburn Village
A village precinct worth protecting.
Hawksburn Village is one of Melbourne's most loved villages, built on specialty retailers, family-run businesses and streets where people know each other.
55% of everything spent here comes from residents rather than passing visitors, which is the highest local share of any centre in Stonnington. This is the local's village.
That closeness is under pressure on two fronts. Vacancy has climbed sharply in the past six months. And locals have raised real concerns about the State Government's Activity Centres Program, which will bring increased height and density near Hawksburn station, about what that means for the character of a village this intimate. Both are front of mind for me, and I'll keep pushing to protect what makes this village work.
Hawksburn by the numbers
Oct 2025–Mar 2026
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$47 million spent locally — up 5.4% on the year before
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60,000 customer visits — up 2.4%
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55% of all spending comes from residents, not visitors
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Daytime spend $38.9 million vs night-time $8.3 million
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Vacancy has climbed to 12.24%, up 4.76%.
Toorak Road South Yarra
South Yarra's other high street.
Toorak Road has always been one of South Yarra's great strengths, a strip locals walk to rather than drive to, where two-thirds of the people on the street any given day live within an easy stroll. It's renowned for its dining, from quick lunches to fine dining and late bars, and for the boutique hotels that fill up when Melbourne's biggest events come to town. Visitors describe it as busy, lively and upmarket, and the overwhelming majority say they feel safe here.
That strength is under real pressure from decisions made well above council's pay grade. The State Government's expanded congestion levy now reaches into South Yarra, hitting council-owned off-street parking in the strip with a cost that wasn't there twelve months ago. Recent changes to rail services through South Yarra Station have made the precinct harder to reach by train, frustrating traders and visitors alike. And next door, the Forrest Hill precinct has added thousands of new residents within walking distance, exactly the customer base that keeps a strip like this alive, but its streetscapes haven't kept pace with the towers above them. Council has set aside funding to start improving that public realm while the precinct's major construction works are finished. Backing this street means fighting the cost-shifting from the state and getting the basics right at home.
“We have been extremely grateful for the advocacy and support Kate has given us. Kate’s ability to truly listen and understand the needs of local businesses has been instrumental. Her collaborative approach makes a tangible difference for our businesses and our entire community.”
South Yarra Village Snapshot
TRSY Intercept Survey 2025
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2/3 of people on the strip are locals
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94% say they feel safe here - day or night.
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6/10 people name its great food as its defining feature
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Locals describe it as 'busy', 'lively' and 'upmarket'
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More people who come here walk than drive
Prahran Market
A 160 year old Melbourne institution,
right here in South Yarra Ward.
There's nowhere quite like Prahran Market on a Saturday. The produce is the best in Melbourne, cheeses you can't get elsewhere, meat and seafood handled and presented with real craft. And for my family, it's become a ritual: a lunch where you can order from half a dozen cuisines, listen to live music, and let the kids run around a square that feels like the whole neighbourhood showed up. It's been going since 1864, making it Australia's oldest market, and it remains one of the most genuinely communal public spaces we have.
It's also council-owned, which means it's accountable in a way a private market isn't. The market is run day to day by an independent board appointed by the council, which reports back on its progress, finances and visitation data. Operational decisions, including the ones traders make about their own pricing and leasing arrangements, sit with the traders running their businesses, not with elected councillors picking winners. I know the market has a reputation for being expensive next to other Melbourne markets, and that's fair, it's also one the board has started addressing, bringing in lower-priced operators to broaden what's on offer.
On the cost of running the place itself: the market doesn't receive a cash subsidy from ratepayers. What it does get is rent well below commercial market rates, a deliberate choice that treats it as a heritage and community asset rather than a standard tenancy. I think that's the right call for a market this old, but it's also exactly why council, as landlord, owes it real investment in return.
That's where I think we've fallen short historically, and where it's changing. The adopted budget puts close to $1.9 million into the market this year: new electrical and water metering, a grease trap for new tenancies in Harvest Hall, storage improvements, a new compactor, and asset renewal including flooring. Detailed design work is also underway for an upgraded Market Square, the heart of the place people actually come for. None of it is visible from the produce aisles; all of it is the difference between this market lasting another century and not. There's still more to do, including giving traders the back-of-house space that comparable markets already have, but a market this old only survives by being willing to change.
Australia's oldest market, trading since 1864, is also one of Melbourne's most loved.
Locals come for cheese, deli food, meat and seafood you won't find anywhere else, presented the way only a specialist trader can,
Stay for my family's Saturday ritual: Mexican, Japanese, Middle Eastern, mussels, burgers, or steak sandwiches, live music and a square full of neighbours, kids and dogs.
Key Contact Details:
For general enquiries about the operation of the market please email management@prahranmarket.com.au or call 03 8290 8220
What I've delivered
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Moved the adoption of the Chapel Street Precinct Improvement Plan for implementation from July 2025 to June 2026, the foundational document driving the precinct's current transformation: covering safety, activation, and the transition of funding from the Chapel Street Special Rate to Council management
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Tracked and publicly reported Precinct Improvement Plan metrics: 3,000 additional pedestrians per week and sustained growth in visitor spend
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Moved the Market Street South Yarra road closure trial (March 2026): a 12-month trial closing Market Street between 5am and 11am on five days each week, supporting market day activation and pedestrian-friendly public space
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Moved the Significant Community Benefit Policy requiring that developer height bonuses translate into genuine community value for the precinct, - especially in a high development area like Chapel Street precinct.
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Moved a Council note on the outcomes of the Elizabeth Street Car Park 1-hour free parking initiative on market days (March 2026), supporting local business.
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Consistently opposed inappropriate development proposals that would undermine Toorak Road's character and scale
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Ensured Toorak Road is represented in Council's economic development thinking alongside Chapel Street
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Seconded the contract award for the Prahran Market Roof Upgrade Stage 3 (February 2026), awarding the contract to Exemplo Constructions. A significant infrastructure investment ensuring the Market's fabric is properly maintained for the long term.
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Advocated for investment that ensures the Market remains financially sustainable and accessible to traders and visitors
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Championed the Market as a genuine community and cultural asset, not simply a retail venue
What I'm working on
Local retail is the heart of South Yarra, and I'll keep backing them: more foot traffic, less red tape, a better environment to trade in.
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Chapel Street. Safety is the most pressing issue here. Confidence has dropped sharply, and retail crime drives more offending than anything else on the street. I'm seeking outreach funding, and the enforcement tools are still sitting deferred, alongside better lighting and a safer night economy year-round, while keeping up the activation and design standards that strengthen new development rather than detract from it.
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Hawksburn Village. Its scale is the asset, and the Activity Centre rezoning is the threat. I'm holding the line on rezoning that would erode the Village's character, watching development applications closely, and backing the traders and activations that keep it feeling local.
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Toorak Road. The pressure here isn't development, it's three things the precinct didn't choose: a new parking levy, a transit disruption, and growth outpacing its streets.
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Prahran Market. The real issue is decades of declining foot traffic and spending. We can't address these things while staying the same. I'm pushing for the infrastructure investment it needs and backing its evolution without losing what locals already love about it.
