“Global Research helped the City of Port Phillip to review, collate and make sense of the data collected across the engagement program for upgrades to South Melbourne Market in November-December 2023. Their approach is collaborative, professional and thorough. The detailed report was delivered to us on time and to a high quality, within the tight deadlines in which they were working to. The report was easy to understand and had useful insights that helped with Council’s decision making. It’s always a pleasure to work with the team at Global Research.”
Background and aims
South Melbourne Market was established in 1867 and is the oldest continuing market in Melbourne. Over time, the Market has undergone regular improvement and expansion to accommodate the growing needs of its traders and local community and ensure its compliance with changing regulations.
The City of Port Phillip conducted community engagement between 3 November and 3 December 2023 to gather feedback from the community and traders regarding proposed amendments to the South Melbourne Market, enabling the Market to further improve user experience and adapt to the changing needs of its stakeholders.
Our role
859 participants completed an online survey and City of Port Phillip held 5 focus groups and 6 pop-up conversation sessions. Global research analysed all data from these engagements, enabling market users, stall holders, and stakeholders to have their say about future potential changes at South Melbourne Market. Data was collated and coded (classified) to identify key themes, topics, and points. Topics which garnered high levels of interest were queried to ascertain the user-types or demographic of respondents who expressed them, and charts and summaries were prepared to succinctly present large datasets and complex sets of opinions.
Design and method
Data was coded (classified) to themes and topics to map community and stakeholder sentiment. The most prevalent topics were summarised to illustrate the essence of what most people expressed. This text was peppered with quotes direct from respondents to illustrate the flavour, texture and tone of commentary. Where relevant, analysis highlighted the differences in opinion between various demographic cohorts, such as gender groups or whether the respondent was a market visitor, market trader, or local trader.
Results
Global Research completed precise and clear reporting. For example, Global Research identified majority support for retaining the current opening hours, particularly on Wednesdays. While there was a small amount of support for longer trading hours on Friday and Saturday evenings, most people did not want to see the market hours extended into the evening. In fact, there was majority support from stall holders for an earlier close on a Friday night. Additional commentary pertained to accessibility needs around public transport, prams and wheelchair users, as well as the impacts of parking in the surrounding streets on local residents and people trying to access the Market.
Global Research’s full engagement summary report can be read by clicking on the link at the top of this page.
Outcome
The City of Port Phillip distributed the engagement findings to furnish decision makers with evidence-based information on how the Market is used and valued by people in the area. Such findings will provide planners with a useful tool to further improve community experiences of this space which has been much-loved for generations.
This project went to a Council Meeting on Wednesday 15 May 2024. The following recommendation was passed by vote.
Council:
3.1 Endorses the scope for the South Melbourne Market’s overarching program of capital works “Project Connect”, excluding line 1 of part 6B of the scope being the ‘Closure of Cecil Street northbound to traffic, extend public and tenanted outdoor space’ only.
3.2 Requests officers to bring a report back to Council to consider the possible closure of Cecil Street to allow for separate consideration of this matter.
3.3 Notes the feedback from Community Consultation program on Project Connect and the Market’s Days and Hours.
3.4 Notes there is no proposal to change current Market trading hours and days at this time.
3.5 Authorises the CEO, or their delegate, to make minor adjustments to the Project Connect Scope during concept design as required to ensure alignment with compliance and renewal requirements and strategic vision
This feedback will now inform the development of the draft Concept Design.