Hyperlocal News launches Future Melbourne podcast exploring the city’s big issues

A new podcast exploring the ideas, debates and decisions shaping Melbourne’s future has launched this month, with the first episode focusing on one of the city’s most iconic institutions: Queen Victoria Market.

Produced by Hyperlocal News, the publisher of CBD News and its network of local newspapers across the City of Melbourne, Future Melbourne aims to provide a platform for deeper conversations about how the city is evolving and what lies ahead.

Hosted by publisher and editor Sean Car, the podcast will feature interviews with key voices from across Melbourne’s civic, planning, business and cultural sectors, unpacking the challenges and opportunities facing the city.

The first episode turns the spotlight on Queen Victoria Market, with CEO Matt Elliott joining the program to discuss the historic precinct’s ongoing renewal and the future of one of Melbourne’s most recognisable public spaces.

For more than 145 years, the market has been at the heart of city life. It has long been a place where fresh food, small business, tourism and community intersect, while also serving as an important heritage site within the CBD.

But like much of central Melbourne, the market has experienced significant change in recent years.

In the podcast, Mr Elliott discusses the market’s complex balancing act between heritage preservation and modernisation, the long-running City of Melbourne renewal program, the impacts of the pandemic on traders, and the shifting expectations of visitors and shoppers.

He also outlines his vision for the next decade of the precinct, including how the market can remain both a working marketplace and a vibrant civic destination.

Mr Car said the podcast was created to extend the role Hyperlocal News has long played in covering local issues and community conversations across the municipality.

“For many years our newspapers have reported on the key decisions shaping Melbourne, from planning and development to major civic projects and local issues affecting our neighbourhoods,” Mr Car said.

The podcast gives us a new platform to take those conversations further and to hear directly from the people involved in shaping the city’s future.

He said the idea behind Future Melbourne was to provide thoughtful, accessible discussions about topics that often shape everyday life in the city but can be difficult to unpack in traditional news formats.

“These are big issues that affect how Melbourne grows and changes. Through the podcast we’re hoping to explore them in more depth and help our audience better understand what’s happening, why it matters and what comes next.”

The series is supported by Good One Creative, with episodes set to cover a wide range of topics affecting Melbourne’s future.

Upcoming discussions will explore issues including Docklands and the challenges of revitalising the waterfront precinct, the evolving city economy, housing and density debates, and major urban renewal areas such as Arden-Macaulay and Fishermans Bend.

Other episodes will focus on the Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation, the future of Lygon Street, the Yarra River, city safety and the role of public space in shaping community life.

Mr Car said following an initial pilot of 12 episodes, the aim was to build the podcast into an ongoing forum for informed discussion about the direction of the city.

“Melbourne is constantly evolving and there are so many important conversations happening about where we go next,” he said.

“We hope Future Melbourne becomes an important platform for those conversations and a place where people can hear directly from the leaders, planners, thinkers and community voices shaping the future of our city.”

The Future Melbourne podcast is produced by Hyperlocal News and is available online now, with new episodes to be released weekly on a Wednesday. You can also watch the full video of this episode at the top of this article.