Melbourne residents stage picnic protest against drinking ban on beloved grass strip
Locals in Melbourne's Carlton North held a protest picnic after a council reclassification banned alcohol on a popular median strip, drawing thousands of signatures against the ban and even a pledge from the state premier to reverse it.
What looked like an ordinary spring evening gathering on Melbourne's Canning Street was actually a deliberate act of protest. Dozens of people brought drinks and picnic spreads to the wide grassy median strip on Friday evening, defying a fresh ban on alcohol consumption there.
The ban emerged after the Wine Corner Store, a local bar and bottle shop, announced on Instagram earlier in the week that the council had reclassified the median strips on Drummond, Rathdowne and Canning Streets, stripping them of park status following complaints from some residents about noise, rubbish and unsafe behaviour.
The move triggered a strong community backlash. While the original push for a ban stemmed from a 29-signature petition submitted in August, a counter-petition demanding the ban's reversal collected more than 7,700 signatures within days.
Greens candidate Adam Pulford joined Friday's gathering, having invited people online to take part in a peaceful demonstration. Attendees spoke about the value of public gathering spaces for building community connections, particularly in the period since the Covid pandemic.
Local councillor Edward Crosling acknowledged that some residents' concerns about noise and behaviour were genuine, but said an outright ban went too far, since most people using the strip were simply picnicking. He said he is preparing a motion for the council's October meeting that would likely restore the strip's open-space classification while addressing specific concerns near the wine bar.
The venue's owner, Steve Misfud-Ellul, rejected suggestions his business was to blame, saying customers choose where to stop on their own and that gatherings were overwhelmingly peaceful.
The controversy drew in Victoria's premier, Ben Carroll, who posted on social media on Friday that the ban would be reversed — by the state if the council did not act first.
