Mt Waverley - Melbourne

Mount Waverley is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. At the 2006 Census, Mount Waverley had a population of 30,617.

It is a large suburb, rectangular in shape, bounded by Highbury Road in the north, Ferntree Gully Road in the south, Huntingdale Road in the west, and Blackburn Road in the east. At the centre of the suburb is Mount Waverley Village shopping centre, and in the south east is Pinewood Village Shopping Centre. Mount Waverley has two train stations, Mount Waverley and Jordanville, on the Glen Waverley line.

History

The Mount Waverley area, then part of the Parish of Mulgrave, was divided by straight roads running north-south and east-west, each exactly one mile apart, by Assistant Surveyor Eugene Bellairs, in 1853.

Mount Waverley Post Office opened on 9 October 1905 in the then rural area.

Mount Waverley is famous for its heritage streets. The suburb was originally a new estate in the 1930s. Due to the onset of the Great Depression, the estate did not get off the ground. The streets had been laid down, but no houses were built; merely a row of cardboard boxes housed the first few residents who had migrated east from the slums of Ashburton to enjoy a better standard of living, only to be bitterly disappointed with the estate agents who promised milk and honey but instead delivered a mosquito infested swamp. The Ashburton immigrants, while disappointed all agreed that the swamp was a major step up from their former homes Lachlan Barth - president of Ashburton Historical Society) . These mean streets were built of concrete, not asphalt. The surface is still the same as it was in the 1930s, with only minor maintenance over the decades. Residential development did not resurge until the 1950s. In early 2008, a new smoother asphalt surface was finally laid along the strip of Stephensons Road between Waverley Road and Mount Waverley Village shopping centre. Stephensons Road is the main road of Mount Waverley that goes straight through the middle of the suburb from south (where it becomes Clayton Road) to north (where it becomes Middleborough Road). A notable residential street is Sherwood Road, just south of the shopping centre. The eastern half of this street is divided by a large reserve strikingly planted with rows of large palm trees.[5] Post Offices at Mount Waverley North (opened 1959 closed 1983), Mount Waverley South (opened 1968 closed 1973), and Mount Waverley West (opened 1964 closed 1977) chart the wider residential development of the suburb.

Today

One of the highest points in Mount Waverley is the reservoir in High Street Road. The natural land surrounding this landmark is over 138-150 metres above sea level. Construction of the reservoir began in 1927.

The waterways in the suburb are Damper Creek in the north, and Scotchmans Creek, in the south. Significant parks within Mount Waverley include Valley Reserve, Damper Creek Reserve, and Federal Reserve. All reserves contain significant areas of remnant native bushland. Significant wetland areas in Mount Waverley are found within Valley Reserve and in the Scotchmans Creek valley.

The popular Melbourne Street Directory Melway was first produced in a garage in Mount Waverley in 1966.

Over many years, Mount Waverley has held an annual Christmas Carols event, which have featured hundreds of local performers. Matthew Clark took over as Executive producer in 2006, and has grown the event enormously. The 2009 event on December 5 at 7.30pm will feature artists Anthony Callea and Silvie Paladino, and Patti Newton will host the event.

Education

Schools in the suburb include:

PRIMARY

Mount Waverley Primary School

Syndal South Primary School

Sussex Heights Primary School

Essex Heights Primary School

Mount Waverley North Primary School

Holy Family Primary School

Huntingtower School.

SECONDARY
 

Mount Waverley Secondary College

Avila College

PROPERTY

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