If we don't save this space now, it will be gone forever.
On Melbourne's eastern edge, a remediated quarry that has sat fenced and silent for three decades now stands at the centre of a question cities everywhere must eventually answer: when land becomes scarce and populations surge, who decides what a community is allowed to hold in common? The arrival of the Suburban Rail Loop has transformed the Box Hill Brickworks from a forgotten industrial remnant into a test of whether market logic or civic vision will shape the suburb's future. Planning Panels Victoria has recommended the site be given over almost entirely to high-density housing, but residents and local government are pressing for the kind of open green space that, once lost to development, cannot be recovered. The decision before Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny is less a zoning question than a statement about what kind of city Melbourne intends to become.
- A 3.5-MCG parcel of remediated land in Box Hill has become urgently contested as the Suburban Rail Loop transforms surrounding land values almost overnight.
- Planning Panels Victoria's recommendation to zone 95% of the site for up to ten-storey housing has galvanised residents who fear a suburb already straining under growth will be left without room to breathe.
- The developer warns the project loses $145 million under current rules, and urban economists note that the old logic of converting landfills into parks has been overtaken by housing economics that now make contamination remediation financially worthwhile.
- Whitehorse Council has $72 million in reserve and a willingness to buy, but cannot compel a sale — leaving the entire outcome suspended in the hands of a single ministerial decision.
- Housing advocates argue that transit-adjacent land is precisely where density belongs, while residents counter that Box Hill's population is forecast to double and a Central Park-scale green space, if not secured now, will be lost permanently.
The Box Hill Brickworks has spent thirty years behind wire fencing — a former quarry and landfill, remediated but closed to the public, a green expanse that Melbourne's eastern suburbs can see but cannot use. The arrival of the Suburban Rail Loop has ended that quiet waiting. The land is now a battleground.
Planning Panels Victoria has recommended that 95 percent of the site be zoned for housing, with buildings rising to ten storeys. Developer Phileo Australia says the arithmetic is unforgiving: under current settings, the project loses $145 million, and only greater density makes it viable. Against this, Whitehorse Council and local residents point to places like Northcote's All Nations Park — former quarries that became beloved community spaces — and ask why Box Hill cannot have the same.
The deeper tension is economic. A decade ago, remediating old landfills as parkland made financial sense. Today, housing demand has so inflated land values that even the expensive work of replacing contaminated soil for residential development is worth undertaking. As one urban planner put it, cities are quietly losing the chance to create passive open space through the natural lifecycle of industrial sites — the opportunity cost has simply grown too large.
Box Hill's population is expected to double within two decades once the rail loop opens. Vincent Menilli of the Box Hill Brickworks Parkland Association does not oppose the rail project, but he sees the fenced green land as essential to absorbing that growth. Mayor Kirstin Langford frames it plainly: the suburb needs a Central Park, and if the moment passes, it passes forever. The council has $72 million set aside and is willing to buy — but the owner is not selling, and no one can force the transaction.
Housing advocates from groups like YIMBY Melbourne acknowledge the loss of open space but argue that land within walking distance of a new rail station is exactly where dense housing should go, in a city facing a severe shortage of homes. The Brickworks decision now rests with Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny, and whatever she decides will likely shape how Melbourne treats every other former industrial site along the new rail corridor — a precedent dressed up as a planning application.
The Box Hill Brickworks sits behind wire fencing on the eastern edge of Melbourne, a 3.5-football-field expanse of green that no one is allowed to touch. For thirty years it has been closed to the public—a former quarry and landfill, remediated but untouched, waiting. Now the Suburban Rail Loop is coming to Box Hill, and the land has become a battleground between two visions of what the suburb should become.
Planning Panels Victoria has recommended that 95 percent of the site be zoned for housing, with buildings reaching ten storeys high. The developer, Phileo Australia, argues the economics are straightforward: under current rules, the project would lose $145 million. Higher density—taller buildings, more units per hectare—is the only way to make the numbers work. But residents and Whitehorse Council are fighting to designate the land as parkland instead, pointing to similar transformations at Northcote's All Nations Park and Darebin Parklands, where former quarries became community gathering spaces.
The tension reflects a deeper shift in how cities value land. A decade ago, it made financial sense to remediate old quarries and landfills as parks. The work was straightforward, the costs manageable. But housing demand has rewritten that equation. Contaminated soil must be replaced for residential development—expensive work, yes, but now worth doing because the land itself is worth so much more. As Monash University urban planner Liz Walker explained, the economics have changed so completely that cities are losing the chance to create passive open space through the natural lifecycle of landfills. The opportunity cost of parkland has become too high.
Box Hill's population is forecast to double within fifteen to twenty years once the rail loop opens. Vincent Menilli, of the Box Hill Brickworks Parkland Association, does not oppose progress or the rail loop itself. But he sees the fenced-off green grass as essential to absorbing that growth. "It's almost like giving a child an ice cream cake and saying it's there, but you can't have it," he said. The nearby Surrey Park already hosts multiple sporting clubs and a swimming pool, but the space is perpetually crowded. What the suburb needs, residents argue, is room to breathe—a Central Park or Hyde Park, as Mayor Kirstin Langford put it. "If we don't save this space now, it will be gone. And once it's gone, it's gone forever."
Whitehorse Council has committed to buying the land if it comes to market, with $72 million sitting in its Public Open Space Reserve. But the council cannot force a sale, and the owner is not selling. The decision rests with Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny, who has not yet ruled on the site's future. Developers and housing advocates argue that proximity to the new rail station is precisely where dense housing should go—within walking distance of transit, where people can live without cars. Jonathan O'Brien of YIMBY Melbourne acknowledged the trade-off against open space but emphasized the social benefit of building more homes in a city with a severe shortage. The Suburban Rail Loop Authority itself noted that the project would cut travel times and congestion, connecting people to universities by rail for the first time.
The Brickworks decision will likely set a precedent for how Melbourne approaches other former industrial sites near the new rail stations. The remediation work is complex—landfill shifts as it decomposes, and housing requires more careful soil management than parkland. But the real constraint is not technical. It is economic and political: whether a city chooses to reserve land for collective use, or whether it allows the market to convert every available parcel into housing and commercial space. Box Hill is waiting to learn which vision will prevail.
Notable Quotes
It's almost like giving a child an ice cream cake and saying it's there, but you can't have it. It's what saves Box Hill.— Vincent Menilli, Box Hill Brickworks Parkland Association
The economics have changed so much that we're now losing this opportunity to get passive open space through this kind of life cycle of landfills.— Liz Walker, Monash University urban planner
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does this particular site matter so much? There are other places to build housing.
Because it's one of the last significant undeveloped spaces in the municipality, and it's in exactly the right place—walking distance from a new rail station. Once it's built on, it's gone. You can't reclaim it later.
But the developer is losing $145 million under current rules. Isn't that a real constraint?
It is, but it's a constraint created by the market, not by physics. The land is valuable because housing is scarce. If we decide parkland is more valuable than another apartment tower, we have to be willing to pay for that choice—or subsidize it somehow.
The council has $72 million set aside. Can't they just buy it?
They could, if the owner wanted to sell. But the owner doesn't. They see a development opportunity worth far more than parkland would be. The council can't force a sale.
So this is really about whether the government will override the market?
Yes. And about whether we believe cities need breathing room, or whether every piece of land should be optimized for density and profit. The suburbs are doubling in size. That's a lot of people arriving. The question is what kind of place they'll arrive to.
What changed? Why was it easier to make parks from old quarries before?
The economics flipped. Remediation for housing is now more profitable than remediation for parks, even though it's more expensive and complicated. Demand for housing is so high that it justifies the extra work. Ten years ago, it didn't.
And if the minister approves the housing development?
Then Box Hill becomes denser, more people live near transit, and the suburb loses one of its last open spaces. The trade-off is real either way.