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Get notifiedA public plan for public land
A once-in-a-generation opportunity.
We are seeking a community-led plan for the old Footscray Hospital site that delivers outstanding public infrastructure, significant green space, and diverse housing — designed with, and for, the local community.
The Site
8.1 hectares on Gordon Street.
More than four Whitten Ovals — purchased by the community for public use. The former Footscray Hospital occupies an entire block on Gordon Street, one of the largest parcels of publicly owned land in Melbourne's inner west. What happens here will shape Footscray for generations.
Following colonisation, the site was managed as a bluestone quarry. In the late 1800s the community grew increasingly concerned about the lack of a hospital in the inner west. After decades of lobbying the State, the community took matters into their own hands — fundraising the not-insignificant £2,000 needed to purchase a portion of the quarry land from the owner, Mr Rayner, in the 1920s. It took thirty more years before the State Government finally built the original Footscray Hospital — "The People's Hospital" (see The People's Hospital: Tales from the Surgeon's Table). A century later a new hospital was built, leaving this large piece of public land vacant and ready for its next public use.
Former Footscray Hospital site — approximate boundary Gordon Street, Footscray VIC 3011
How we got here.
A century of community ambition for this site — from a quarry-edge hospital fundraised by working-class Footscray, to the campaign for its next public use.
Scroll the timeline to read more
- Before colonisation
- For tens of thousands of years
The land is cared for by the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and the Bunurong peoples and clans of the Kulin Nation, who continue as the traditional custodians of these lands and waters.
- Origins
- Late 1800s
Parts of the Gordon Street site are used as a bluestone quarry, supplying stone for Footscray's industrial expansion. The quarry is eventually exhausted and backfilled — the low-lying land it left behind shapes the site's character to this day.
- 1880s to 1920s
The Footscray community spends decades lobbying for a hospital. Eventually taking matters into their own hands and raising funds to purchase the land for their first local hospital — an extraordinary act of civic ambition by a working-class suburb.
- The People's Hospital
- 1953
Footscray Hospital opens on Gordon Street, finally delivering on decades of community advocacy and fundraising. It becomes the principal hospital for Melbourne's inner west.
- 1970s
The hospital expands in step with the suburb. A brutalist-style concrete Early Treatment Psychiatric Centre is constructed as part of the de-institutionalisation of mental health care. It operates until 1996 before being hoarded up and used as storage. The building and surrounding car park on Gordon Street are added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2020.
- 2000s
Western Health is formed, consolidating Melbourne's western hospitals under a single network. Footscray Hospital, now more than half a century old, is increasingly stretched as the suburb's population grows.
- 2018
The Victorian Government announces a new Footscray Hospital to be built on Geelong Road. The fate of the Gordon Street site is left unaddressed.
- A community asks
- 2022
As the new hospital takes shape on Geelong Road, the Victorian Government fails to communicate any plans for the old site. RoFH forms and begins community consultation with three pop-up events. A volunteer architect translates community feedback into a concept plan.
- 2023
The Victorian Government commences its own consultation — a basic online survey. A community reference group is promised, with options for the site to be shared by end of 2025.
- 2024
Maribyrnong City Council releases its advocacy plan: large bushland, 3–8 storey medium-density housing with 30% social housing, and remediation of the heritage psychiatric building for community use.
- 2025
The Victorian Government's Engage Victoria page stalls at "Reporting back." The promised reference group is quietly removed from the website. The community requests the State start the site transformation by turning a small portion of the site into a first-stage park — the site is the number-one voted site in the Government's "Pick My Park" program, highlighting the significant need for new parkland in the area. The State can't find a way to give approval for this land use. A meeting with Development Victoria, arranged by Katie Hall MP, provides little reassurance the community vision is being heard and translated.
- February 2026
The new Footscray Hospital opens on Geelong Road. The Gordon Street site officially enters its next chapter — but without a plan, without a timeframe, and without community input.
- What comes next
- June 2026 Upcoming
RoFH hosts a community forum to bring residents, councillors, and decision-makers together — and to demand a public response from government by this date.
- November 2026 Upcoming
The Victorian state election. An opportunity to make the future of this site a question every candidate in the inner west must answer.
- By 2028 Our Ask
A first park delivered — on the land currently used as a car park in front of the heritage psychiatric building. A tangible sign that change is coming.
- By 2030 Our Ask
The heritage psychiatric building remediated and transferred to Maribyrnong Council for community use. A major nature-based parkland over the former quarry. Medium-density housing with a significant social and affordable component — delivered, not just promised.
About RoFH
Who we are.
Reimagining Old Footscray Hospital (RoFH) is a group of local inner-west residents united by a shared interest and vision for this large publicly purchased and owned site, which now sits vacant following the relocation of the hospital in early 2026.
The group formed in 2022 after a growing concern that the State and Local Government landowners had not commenced a process of engagement on the site's future, despite knowing in 2018 that it would become vacant by 2026.
We took this as an opportunity for the community to share its ideas and vision, and commenced a series of consultations with our community. This culminated in a vision and concept plan, prepared by architect Ena Ninkovic, intended to highlight community aspirations for a high-quality, mixed-use precinct prioritising green space, social housing, and community infrastructure.
In the process we discovered we were building on over 100 years of community connection — going back to the community advocating, fundraising and purchasing the land for a public hospital (read the site history).
Since our initial consultation we have continued to engage and advocate to State and Local Governments for a genuine co-design process that delivers a plan that prioritises community benefits over private interests. Our activities have included promoting and submitting to the State and Local Government consultation surveys run in 2022–23, hosting free community events including pop-up picnics and a site history tour, presenting at conferences, and promoting our objectives through the media and written articles for The Westsider.
We have also met with Maribyrnong Council and elected Members of Parliament to discuss the site's future and community aspirations.
With the new Footscray Hospital now open and a two-year demolition timeframe, we are calling for a community-led plan for the publicly owned former Footscray Hospital site that delivers outstanding public infrastructure, significant green space, and diverse housing — designed with, and for, the local community.
The Campaign
What we're asking for.
RoFH community group objective
A public plan for public land.
We want a community-led plan for the publicly owned former Footscray Hospital site that delivers outstanding public infrastructure, significant green space, and diverse housing — designed with, and for, the local community.
Our ask of State Government
We are seeking the State Government to:
- 1
Immediately implement a best-practice governance and community engagement process that enables genuine co-design of an integrated site precinct plan.
- 2
Commit to co-design with Council and the community, by 2028, a precinct-wide public infrastructure plan that maximises community benefit and return on investment, and opportunities to reuse the heritage-listed psychiatric building.
- 3
Commit to delivering a major public park across the former quarry, commencing with delivery of a first-stage park fronting Gordon Street in 2028.
- 4
Commit to planning for and investing in the delivery of high-quality, diverse and integrated medium-density housing, including significant new public and social housing and associated support services.
Our community engagement expectations
The redevelopment of the former Footscray Hospital site is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the inner west community.
We are seeking to engage and shape the future of this public site — not just be informed.
We're calling for a process that is genuine, transparent, and community-focused, that entails:
- Early, ongoing and meaningful engagement (before decisions are made)
- Real opportunities to explore options and co-design the precinct plan
- Timely, clear, and widely shared public information
- Ongoing, respectful dialogue
- Evidence of how community input shapes outcomes
Get Involved
How you can help.
The process of planning for the rezoning and redevelopment of the site is now underway, and will take years. It is important the community continue to make their voices heard if we are to influence the future of this important piece of public land.
Other ways to get involved
Share with neighbours
Share the site history and your aspirations for it — building a collective understanding and position.
Share via emailJoin RoFH activities
Join our community group and help promote our objectives — pop-ups, walking tours, forums.
Contact usSign up for updates
Join our mailing list for news, upcoming events, and ways to take action.
Join the listLatest updates
Follow us on FacebookContact
Get in touch.
oldfootscrayhospital@gmail.com
RoFH is a volunteer community group based in Footscray, in Melbourne's inner west.
For media queries, please contact RoFH spokespeople Kate and Pierre at the email above, or via Facebook Messenger.
The site in question: the former Footscray Hospital, Gordon Street, Footscray VIC 3011.
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