Fresh food traders warn Queen Vic Market is “on life support” amid redevelopment

The future of the Queen Victoria Market as a place to buy good quality, reasonably priced fruit and vegetables is under threat, according to the market’s friends’ group, with fresh food traders warning many businesses may not survive the precinct’s ongoing redevelopment.

Around 40 people attended the Friends of Queen Victoria Market annual general meeting on February 17, where members of what the group describes as its “passionate community” raised concerns about a lack of genuine consultation and engagement by the City of Melbourne and its management company, QVM Pty Ltd (QVM PL).

Several speakers suggested the market’s traditional role as a working fresh food hub was being sidelined in favour of tourism and special events.

Federal Member for Melbourne Sarah Witty addressed the meeting, voicing strong support for the market’s core purpose.

She said she wanted to see it remain “a genuine, working fresh food market at its core”, supporting its traders and “serving locals first”.

“Because this place does not belong to one council term, one government, or one campaign; it belongs to Melbourne,” Ms Witty said, offering to add her voice to the group’s advocacy.

Attendees cited falling customer numbers linked to parking, traffic management and operational disruptions caused by both the market precinct renewal program and preparatory works for the $1.7 billion Gurrowa Place housing development.

Fruit and vegetable stall worker Fahna Ammett told City of Melbourne infrastructure manager Rick Kwasek that it was not an exaggeration to say the market was “on life support”.

“These are really desperate times and some of those traders are in debt,” she said.

Ms Ammett argued that council decisions had “ripped infrastructure [away], limiting the capacity of traders to actually operate a fresh market”, while QVM PL was making “decisions that aren’t responsive to the traders [or] the site”.

A longstanding point of contention has been truck access and parking. Trader Rosa Ansaldo, whose family has operated at the market for 38 years, said she had recently been told her heavy rigid truck would not fit into the planned parking system.

We’ve been a trader for 38 years, we’ve got a big truck, we’ve got a big business. We’ve been told we’ll have to park elsewhere. Can you please tell me where in the city of Melbourne? she asked Mr Kwasek.

His suggestion that she consider purchasing a smaller vehicle drew an audible gasp from the room.

“I think what you’re doing is starting to force some of the bigger and better players to move off site,” another trader responded.

“These guys will go, and you won’t have that good quality fresh fruit and vegetables at a reasonable price within the city.”

The planned closure in 2028 of the open-air car park – set to be converted into the 1.8-hectare Market Square park – remains a major concern. The council has described Market Square as the first new park developed in Melbourne in decades, providing green space for more than 2200 new built-to-rent apartments and student accommodation beds at Lendlease’s Gurrowa Place.

However, Ms Ammett argued that decision-makers had failed to recognise the car park’s function as “infrastructure for the operations of the working market”.

Other complaints focused on day-to-day operational issues. One stallholder described the “nitty gritty” problems, including tour bus parking being abolished without warning, detours introduced without adequate signage and changes to access and traffic flow that have made it harder for customers to enter and exit.

“It’s like there’s no planning to make sure, with all these works going on, that the market can still function. And we’re losing customers daily because they can’t get into the market and they can’t get out easily. It’s become too hard,” the stallholder said.

QVM PL told CBD News it maintained direct engagement and regular communications with traders through multiple structures.

A spokesperson said the renewal program was “a period of significant change for traders” and that support had been “built into every stage of the program”.

“When traders face financial difficulty, we actively engage with structured support, flexible arrangements and access to the City of Melbourne Trader Support Fund,” the spokesperson said.

They added that visitation had increased by almost six per cent in 2025, returning to pre-pandemic levels, and that the Christmas period had delivered strong trading results for many stallholders. •