Bittern is a town on the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located in the south of Greater Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, south-east of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, located within the

Shire of Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula Shire is a local government area in southeastern Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located to the south of the Melbourne City Centre. It has an area of 724 square kilometres and in June 2018 it had a ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Bittern recorded a population of 4,276 at the 2021 census. Bittern is part of an urban enclave on

Western Port Western Port, ( Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it ...

comprising Bittern,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

Crib Point Crib Point is a town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Crib Point recorded a population ...

Somerville Somerville may refer to: Places Australia *Somerville, Victoria, a town **Somerville railway station * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia New Zealand * Somerville, New Zealand, a suburb of Manukau City, New Zea ...

, and Tyabb. Bittern is named after the shy wetland bird, the

Australasian bittern The Australasian bittern (''Botaurus poiciloptilus''), or Matuku-hūrepo in Māori language, Māori, is a stocky, sizeable and elusive heron-like bird native to the Wetland, wetlands of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia.Heather, B. D., & ...

, which reflects the town's location amongst significant areas of native bushland and dense coastal vegetation.

History

The town was part of the Coolart pastoral run of the 1860s. Bittern Post Office opened on 5 January 1891. The railway opened for Bittern in 1889 and small scale commercial development began during the early 1900s.

Notable buildings

The town has a primary school, Bittern Primary School, and a small basketball and netball stadium known as Graham Myers Sports Stadium or Bittern Memorial Stadium, which features an indoor court used for basketball, netball or floorball and four outside courts used for netball. There is also a small oval located outside the stadium.

Transport

Bittern is served by Bittern railway station on the Stony Point line and by the 782 bus route operated by

Ventura Bus Lines Ventura Bus Lines is a large bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operating a fleet of more than 950 buses on 141 bus routes. History Early history Ventura was founded in December 1924 by Henry Cornwall. The name and co ...

between Frankston and

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

References

{{authority control Suburbs of Melbourne Shire of Mornington Peninsula Western Port Coastal towns in Victoria (state)

History

Notable buildings

Transport

See also

References