We asked the community to help shape our plans to improve the pedestrian experience along Centre Road in Bentleigh.

Community engagement ran for four weeks, from 31 March to 27 April 2025. During this time, we received 248 pieces of feedback, including:

• 113 survey responses 📝
• 135 quick poll votes ⏱️

You can read a summary of what we heard below, or explore the full Engagement Summary Report.

There was strong support for the draft design, with 64% of quick poll participants saying they liked the design.

From the survey, we heard that increasing the urban tree canopy was a top priority. Based on this feedback, the main change to the design focused on selecting the right tree species.

We’ve chosen a non-native feature tree, Cercis Canadensis, instead of the native Acacia species. This decision was guided by:

• Visual appeal and comfort — Deciduous trees provide shade in summer and allow sunlight through in winter.
• Resilience — We selected a species that's a proven performer in environments similar to Centre Road’s challenging urban conditions and suits our local climate.
• Safety — The Acacia tree species was reconsidered due to their risk of dropping branches and weeping habit that can affect sight lines on this busy road.

Swipe the images below to reveal the improvements to the landscaping, trees and public seating areas proposed in the final design.

Centre Road is at the heart of Bentleigh Major Activity Centre (MAC) and an important hub for the Glen Eira community.

We’ve heard your feedback and are taking action to refresh the Centre Road streetscape. A well-designed and inviting public space will enhance the shopping strip’s appeal, encouraging more foot traffic, and supporting local businesses.

We're enhancing the shopping strip with refreshed landscaping and upgraded public seating while preserving its local character, creating a more vibrant and welcoming public space for everyone to enjoy.

We’re asking for community feedback on the street improvement concept plan — Have your say before Sunday 27 April 2025.

The concept plan will inform streetscape improvements on Centre Road from Rose Street (west) to Jasper Road (east). This is a multi-year project that will be delivered in stages to minimise disruption to local business and the community.

This project is part of our Better Streets, Better Places program — Council’s plan for improving the main streets of Glen Eira’s activity centres over the next ten years.

The streetscape improvements will be made along Centre Road from Rose Street (west) to Jasper Road (east).

The project will be delivered in stages to minimise disruption to local business and the community.

Click on the image below to zoom.

Swipe the images below to reveal the planned improvements to the landscaping, trees and public seating areas.

The below is an extract of the proposed streetscape improvements for Centre Road.

Vegetation for the garden beds and street trees will be selected from the below.

Click on the image below to zoom.

Community engagement is open until Sunday 27 April.

Have your say by:

• 🗳️ Lodging a Quick-poll vote.
• 📝Completing the survey below — The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete.
• 📍 Joining us at our in-person pop-up at the Bentleigh Community Space, on Wednesday 9 April, 2–4pm.

You can also request a hard copy of the survey form to be posted to you.  To request this, contact us at (03) 9524 3333 or email us at engagement@gleneira.vic.gov.au.

Glen Eira City Council is committed to protecting the personal information provided by you in accordance with the principles of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). The privacy collection notice explains the purpose for which information is collected, and how we will use and handle the information. You can view the privacy collection notice for this project here: Privacy Collection Notice.