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September 30, 2009

Balnarring -3926

Filed under: Melbourne, South Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:46 am

Stay far from the maddening crowd. Balnarring, 2km inland from a clean, crescent-shaped sandy beach fronting Westernport Bay, is a great place to relax on the Mornington Peninsula – away from the throng of holiday-makers who crowd the Port Phillip Bay side.

The Morning Peninsula is Victoria’s most accessible regional leisure and beach peninsula just 75 minutes by car from the city via Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Moorooduc Highway. Balnarring is located near Merricks at the junction of Frankston-Flinders Road and Balnarring Road and is midway between Hastings and Flinders (12km away). Dromana is 17 km away; Frankston is 30km.

The recently opened EastLink has greatly extended Balnarring’s accessibility and appeal to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. A regular bus service between Frankston and Flinders stops at Balnarring.

Balnarring’s 2,400 permanent residents reside almost exclusively in houses spread across 100hectres of residential-zoned land – an average of just 24 persons per hectare. The median house price in Balnarring is $385,000 – on par with the region. Residents are typically families with school-age children making home loan repayments of between $700 and $800 a month.

Balnarring’s primary school is located in Civic Court behind the main Balnarring shopping centre at the six-way road junction at the centre of the town.

The Balnarring Picnic Racing Race Club holds six picnic race meetings a year at Emu Bay Racecourse. Races are held on the third Saturday of the month with the feature Balnarring Cup run on Australia Day. The racecourse is also the venue for the Emu Plains Market which is held during the summer months.

One popular attraction of Balnarring is the Balbirooroo Wetlands with boardwalks around its lagoon which is frequently ringed by Ibis. The wetlands are behind the school and shops.

Glen Waverley -3152

Filed under: East Melbourne, Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:41 am

Glen Waverley is large 16.8KM2 suburb some 26KM south-east of Melbourne CBD with travel time by car via Monash Freeway taking approximately 30 minutes. A good train service from the city terminates at Glen Waverley near the Glen Shopping Centre.

Suburbs adjacent to Glen Waverley are Mount Waverley, Burwood East, Vermont South, Clayton, Wheelers Hill and Wantirna South. Its boundaries are Highbury Road in the north, Dandenong Creek in the east, Blackburn Road in the west and Ferntree Gully Road to the south.

Originally orchards and farms established on flat and hilly land, Glen Waverley was developed as a residential suburb between the 1950’s and 1970’s. Good standard homes were built on large blocks of about 800 M2. With the aging of those original homes, the generous block sizes are now fuelling housing redevelopment and subdivision for townhouses.

Median house prices in Glen Waverley are $610,000; the median price for units is $460,000. The annual growth rates of median prices have been declining in the region – steadily over the past seven years in the case of units. The current median price for house is higher than the regional average.

For its 51, 660 residents, the story of Glen Waverley largely centres around the Glen Waverley station and adjacent shopping precinct, its educational resources, its parklands and its proximity to the Monash Freeway. These features appeal to younger families who typically live in the suburb.

Kingsway is the main street of Glen Waverley. It is the hub for entertainment with a huge Village Cinema complex and restaurants many of which feature a Chinese cuisine. A Saturday night market operates there during the summer months. The construction of The Glen Shopping Centre nearby created a retail magnet for many of the surrounding suburbs offering a David Jones store, two supermarkets and many other quality retailers and service organisation without the hassle often experienced at the even larger Chadstone shopping Centre.

With seven primary schools, three secondary colleges, the Glen Waverley Campus of Holmesglen Institute of TAFE plus the large Wesley College Glen Waverley Campus, two Catholic primary schools and the Berengarra special secondary school, Glen Waverley offers many study centres and paths for progression.

The Police Academy in View Mount Road is a Glen Waverley landmark and overlooks the Dandenong Creek valley.

Local sporting competitions are well served with sporting facilities. Established local teams compete in Australian Rules football, soccer, tennis and cricket. Play golf at Waverley Golf Club.

Walks and bike trails around Shepherds Bush provides a healthy outlet for local residents.
Despite the regular congestion experienced on the Monash Freeway at peak hours, it can provide an excellent access to the city and across town that is not possible using normal roads.

Eltham -3095

Filed under: Melbourne, North Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:39 am

Eltham has retained much of its bushland character despite having a reasonable population of 17,500 people in a 13.2km2 area. A suburb of the Shire of Nillumbik, Eltham is located 20km north east of the city and a road travel time via the Eastern Freeway of approximately 45 minutes. The main surrounding suburbs are Montmorency, Lower Plenty, Eltham North, Research, Warrandyte and Templestowe. Being a designated ‘Green Wedge’ area, Eltham has to date been relatively undeveloped although there is evidence that some of the larger blocks are now being sub-divided for more intensive housing. This will add pressure on the treed environment for which Eltham is note although the tree-lined streets and leafy reserves will be unaffected. Median houses $500,000 above regional average. Units $370,000 mainly houses.
Residents are predominantly Australian-born consisting of older school-age families. Professional occupations are the most recurrent roles.

Train services run from Eltham to the city although journey times can be affected by sections of single track. Eltham is a manned, premium station.

Eltham was once a favourite rain excursion for Melbourne residents who journeyed by rail on weekends to enjoy the flowering wattle and swimming in the Yarra River. The stringybark forests and vistas area also attracted artists and led to the creation of the collection of mud-brick medieval-style buildings in Hillcrest Avenue, known as Monsalvat. Regular exhibitions are held at Monsalvat which remains a continuing venture with resident artists, writers and filmmakers some of whom have gone on and gained international recognition.

Eltham has an excellent shopping centre in Main Street between Luck and Dudley Streets.

Schools in the area are Eltham High, Eltham Primary, Eltham North Primary, Eltham East Primary, Ladies Catholic Secondary College, Our Lady Help of Christians Primary. Schools in nearby Eltham North, include St. Helena Secondary College, Holy Trinity Primary and Glen Katherine Primary.

With all the open space and parklands in the suburb, sports such as basketball, cricket, soccer, football, tennis and athletics have blossomed.

Brighton -3186

Filed under: Melbourne, South Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:38 am

Brighton is a long narrow suburb of 8,2KM2 with a north-south orientation running parallel with Port Phillip Bay and bounded by the Bay, Nepean Highway to the east, South Road, Glenhuntly Road to the north with a western cut-out that is annexed to Elwood. Adjoining suburbs are Elwood, Elsternwick, Gardenvale, Brighton East and Hampton.

Brighton’s allotments are typically bigger than normal. The resident population of 20, 650 live in a modest density of 2,500 per KM2. Two-thirds of Brighton’s dwellings are freestanding homes with a current median price of $1.35 million, a 110% premium over surrounding suburbs. Units sell at an average of $560,000 – a 60% over the average median price of the region.

Besides the excellent private schools that dot this and neighbouring suburbs, Brighton has excellent beachside facilities, grand shopping experiences in Church Street (sometimes described as the southern counterpart of Toorak), a local twin-screen cinema, and some distinctive street layouts (some are crescent shape while others are set on the diagonal. Residents like the perceived aura about their Brighton lifestyle.

And the lifestyle is appealing. The shopping is good. Access to the city is excellent – the 13KM takes about 30 minutes using Barkly Street or St.Kilda Road. The suburb is well serviced by trains and buses. Trams from Glenhuntly Road pass the northern boundary travel to the city via Brighton Road.

Two primary schools servicing the local area are Elsternwick Primary and the Star of the Sea Catholic College. Private schools, however, dominate the scene. Brighton Grammar, Firbank Grammar, St. Leonards College, Hailbury College’s Castlefield Campus, Xavier College are either located within or close to the suburb borders. Brighton has double the State average ratio of primary students at private school compared with State primary enrolments. At secondary level however, this ratio difference becomes threefold.

Which brings us to the beach … and what a beach! There’s beach boxes for hire (if you can get one), plus walks and rides along the Elwood-Brighton mixed bike trail. The Middle Brighton pier and rock wall shelters yachts and pleasure craft ready for the next sailing, skiing or fishing sojourn on Port Phillip. Yes, the lifestyle!

Kyneton -3444

Filed under: Melbourne, North Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:26 am

The township of Kyneton is a regional centre of 4,500 people is situated in Victoria’s scenic Macedon Ranges beside the Campaspe River, halfway between Melbourne and Bendigo.

Originally established to service agricultural producers farming the rich volcanic soil, Kyneton leapt into prominence in the 1850’s as a way-station and sores replenishment stop for the thousands of prospectors headed for the Bendigo and Castlemaine goldfields.

The boom petered out but not before it brought incredible wealth to the community. It also led to the construction many substantial civic and other buildings and projects featuring bluestone from local quarries. The continued prosperity of the region over the years has supported Kyneton’s thriving commercial centre.

Tourism is a major industry in the region. Through good fortune, far-sightedness of conservationists and political support, many of the historical buildings of yesteryear have been preserved for posterity. Kyneton, however, is not a living museum. The Kyneton bypass of the Calder Highway diverted high volumes of heavy traffic that strangled the town’s main street. It also allowed Kyneton to catch its breath and to grow in new directions.

A regular stop on V/Line’s rail trunk routes to Bendigo and Echuca and with up to 20 trains each way during weekdays on weekdays, Kyneton is well placed to become a life-style dormitory for Melbourne commuters. With fares similar to outer Melbourne travel and just one hour travel time to the city, the low land prices makes Kyneton an interesting prospect for first home buyers and young families wishing to combine a health lifestyle with affordable housing. The current median price of Kyneton houses is just $260,000.

Bushranger Ned Kelly was tried in the Kyneton Courthouse – now the Magistrates Court. The enterprising local tourism people put together a number of varied walks about historical Kyneton – the grand Kyneton of yesteryear – then step out to experience the Kyneton of ‘today’! Fresh clean air. Picnic or fish at nearby reservoirs. Enjoy the invigorating mineral springs. Visit nearby wineries with their tasting rooms and cellar sales.

Annual celebrations include the Kyneton Jazz Festival, its Daffodil Festival Agricultural Show and the Kyneton Cup held the day after the Melbourne Cup. Residents are active in other sports, too – like Australian Rules Football, golf and soccer.

Mornington Peninsula

Filed under: Melbourne, Regional Profile, South Melbourne — admin @ 10:24 am

Mornington Peninsula has been a favourite holiday destination with Melbourne residents for more than a century. The peninsula starts at Mornington – an easy 65 minute drive south from Melbourne CBD using freeways and bypasses around many of its tourist hotspots. Mornington Peninsula runs about 40 KM south-east before turning a further 20KM north-west towards Point Nepean – a shape reminiscent of the map of Italy.

Mornington Peninsula partly surrounds Port Phillip Bay. Westernport Bay marks its eastern boundary and Bass Strait the southern. Its topography and land shape use has been moulded by past volcanic activity, rock deformation and erosion. A large lava flow extended from the 300 metre peak at Arthur’s Seat south-west through Red Hill and from Merricks to past Flinders nearly to Cape Schanck. That hard rock created the extensive elevated undulating fertile land supports the many farms, more than 60 vineyards, 14 golf courses and magnificent stands of bushland. Sandstone, which makes up much of the remaining elevated areas, erodes readily and helps to refresh the many sandy beaches around the peninsula.

Much of the Mornington Peninsula is either a national or state park, or protected by heritage, environmental significance or significant landscape overlaps thus protection the character of the region for future generations.

Road access to the Morning Peninsula is via the Frankston Freeway, Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Moorooduc Road. Trains run to Frankston and Hastings on Westernport; bus services extends across and down both sides of the peninsula.

Main towns of Mornington Peninsula are Mornington, Mt. Martha, Safety Beach, Dromana, Rosebud, Rye, Blairgowrie, Sorrento and Portsea travelling away from Melbourne around Port Philip Bay. Towns facing Westernport Bay are Hastings, Balnarring, Flinders and Cape Schanck. Inland towns include Red Hill, Main Ridge and Boneo.

Sandy beaches are to be found along the protected waters of Port Philip Bay. The sandy beaches on the eastern side are equally good but give way to rocky coastline the further south you go.

Tourism flourishes throughout this region with strong demand for holiday lettings especially in long weekends and peak public holiday seasons. Accommodation consisted of motels, holiday home lettings and caravan parks along foreshore areas.

Holiday seasons see visitor numbers doubling the 125,000 people who permanently live on the peninsula – mainly around the Port Philip Bay side. Towns closer to Westernport Bay are generally much quieter. Food services cater for the peaks. Rosebud and Sorrento are the major centres for shopping although all towns cover basic needs.

There are a number of primary schools scattered around the peninsula and fewer secondary colleges which involve a drive or a schools bus.

The attractions of Mornington Peninsula are many and varied. The include swimming, surfing, sailing, golf, scuba diving on shipwrecks – or just sunbaking and playing on the beach. Don’t forget to visit Point Nepean, Mornington Peninsula National Park and the colourful Red Hill Markets where you can sample and buy some of the wonderful wine, cheese, organic fruit, vegetables and meat, olives and other produce and handcrafts of the region.

If you wish to add an extra dimension to your holiday or take an alternative route back to Melbourne, catch the Sorrento to Point Lonsdale car ferry and explore the Bellarine Peninsula.

Armadale -3143

Filed under: East Melbourne, Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:23 am

Armadale is about life-style. With the city just 20 minutes away by road, rail or tram plus some of the best shopping around, Armadale’s attractions and amenities has enticed 8,400 people to live in a fairly flat suburb of just 2.2 KM2 – one that comprises a curious mix of wide tree-lined roads and narrow, often dead-end streets.

With three train stations, a city bound tram line along each of its three east-west arterial roads, excellent north-south tram and bus access, restaurants and cafes, high fashion shops, antiques and pampering services galore, Armadale is a favoured abode especially for university-educated (40% of total), Australia-born professionals who are happy to live in rented units.

40% of those residents who have chosen to borrow to buy their own homes, repay more than $1,500 a month. The median house price in Armadale, currently $1,200,000, is more than 60% higher than the neighbouring average. The median unit price of $430,000 is typical for the area.

Boundaries of Armadale are Malvern Road in the north, Glenferrie Road on the east, Dandenong Road to the south and Orrong Road on the west. The main neighbouring suburbs are South Yarra, Prahran, St. Kilda East, Toorak, Malvern and Caulfield North.

Trams are heavily patronised during the day by students travelling to schools in the suburb – like Lauriston Girls School in Huntingtower Road or Scotch College, De La Salle College and other nearby schools. Armadale Primary School is situated in Densham Road.

It is the diversity of shops, fine dining and eccentric accessories that gives Armadale its appeal. High Street is undoubtedly the high fashion destination. For the basics however, Malvern Central Shopping Centre is the place to go. Toorak Park is regularly used for sport. Other parks and reserves sprinkled around the suburb provide the breathing space for ‘time out’.

Beaumaris -3193

Filed under: Melbourne, South Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 10:17 am

22 KM south-east of Melbourne nestled south of Nepean Highway between Mentone, Cheltenham and Black Rock lies the suburb of Beaumaris. Its 17,500 people live in a quiet, moderately low-density residential area, one that is increasingly subject to urban renewal.

Its proximity to an incredible shopping centre (Southland), many great sand-belt golf courses, secluded beaches, numerous aquatic sports on Port Philip Bay, and the dining-out experiences at historic Ricketts Point make Beaumaris suburb that is a keenly sought by the more financially secure home-buyer. The median house price is currently $870,000 – 40% above the district average. Unit prices are 60% higher at $500,000. Most dwellings in the suburbs are houses. Of those residents who have borrowed to buy their home, over 25% repay more than $1,500 a month.

The main road access to the city is via Nepean Highway although Beach Road offers a more leisurely journey. Buses which criss-cross Beaumaris deliver their passengers to two local railway stations – Cheltenham and Mentone.

Beaumaris has two State schools, a Catholic primary school and Sandringham College’s Senior Beaumaris Campus in Reserve Road and Mentone Girls Secondary College nearby.

Everyday shopping can be found at the Concourse Shopping Centre and at Seaview shopping centre. Southland is the place to go for everything else.

Join prestigious Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the challenge, competition and for good friends that your fitness regime can bring – or simply take a walk along the cliff-top and beach. Love the water? The Ricketts Point peninsula offers safe mooring for yachts and water-sport power boats, some fine fishing around its 115 Hectare Marine Sanctuary plus secluded fine-sand beaches complete with a local life-saving club.

Black Rock -3193

Filed under: Melbourne, South Melbourne, Suburb Profiles — admin @ 9:26 am

Black Rock is a pocket-sized 3.7KM2 beachside suburb wedged between Sandringham, Cheltenham and Beaumaris and overlooking Port Phillip Bay. Its 5,800 residents live in comfortable homes most being constructed on medium-sized allotments post WW2. The median price of houses is currently $900,000 nearly 50% higher than the area average. Units, at $500,000, command a 30% premium.

The Nepean Highway provides good access to the city in 40 minutes, some 21KM away. Buses service the suburb’s perimeter.

Two primary schools are located within the suburb boundaries – Black Rock Primary School and St. Joseph’s School and a pre-school centre in Bluff Road.

A conservation and recreational reserve stretching a kilometre south from Half Moon Bay to the Life Saving Club has preserved many of the original indigenous plants. Red Bluff offers an interesting cliff-top walk with views back to Melbourne and popular beaches on either side. A rock breakwater and the sunken warship HMAS Cerberus, provide storm protection for moored yachts of members of Black Rock Yacht Club.

The Sandringham Public Golf course offers most of the healthy benefits of neighbouring Royal Melbourne Golf Club, with fees that most people can afford.

The Black Rock Clock Tower at the intersection of Beach Road and Balcombe Road is a local landmark.

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