Kew East is a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, 8 km east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the

City of Boroondara The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn. It has an area of ...

local government area. Kew East recorded a population of 6,620 at the 2021 census.

History

A number of farming properties were established along the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, ( Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower s ...

following government land auctions, between 1845 and 1847. The Wills family established "Willsmere Estate", a grazing and dairying property, with the name now reflected in Willsmere Road and Willsmere Park. William Wade established a farm, named "Belford", next door. A flood in December 1863 devastated the property, which later became the Kew Golf Course. The Harp of Erin Hotel, on the corner of Harp Road and High Street, was established in 1854, by Edward Glynn. It was a centre for race meetings and gave its name to Harp Road, which was part of a route to Lilydale, used by Cobb and Co. Kew East Post Office opened around 1924. The East Kew Maternal and Child Health Centre, in Strathalbyn Street, Kew East, is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

. Opened in December 1925, it is the earliest purpose-built and intact baby health centre in the state. The notorious

2020 Eastern Freeway truck crash On 23 April 2020, a drugged truck driver, Mohinder Singh, crashed his truck into a Porsche 911 and two police cars on the Eastern Freeway, in the city of Melbourne, killing four police officers who were on routine highway patrol. Prior to the inc ...

, which received national news coverage, occurred in the suburb.Four Victoria police victims of horror Melbourne freeway crash named
The Guardian. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022.

Street names

Windella Road was originally named Balfour Road, after Kew resident and politician James Balfour. It was renamed to Windella Avenue, after Balfour's residence Windella, due to the similarity of the former name to that of nearby Belford Road. Longstaff, Leason, McCubbin, Newbury, Frater and Lister Streets are all named after Australian painters.

Demographics

As of 2016, 68.2% of residents were born in Australia, 4.3% were born in China, 2.4% in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, 2.1% in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and 23% were born elsewhere.

Population

At the 2016 census, Kew East had a population of 6,669.

Geography

The suburb is bounded to the east by Burke Road, to the north by the Yarra River and to the west by the Yarra River, parts of Kilby and Willsmere Roads and the property boundaries between Willsmere Road and Rattan Avenue. The southern boundary follows Carnegie Avenue, Park Crescent, Earl Street, Asquith Street, property boundaries near Belford Road (south), High Street and Harp Road. The Eastern Freeway runs across the centre of the suburb from east to west.

Education

There are two co-educational government schools located in Kew East — Kew High School, a secondary college located on Burke Road and Kew East Primary School on Kitchener Street. St Annes Catholic School is located on Beresford Street.

Sport and recreation

Kew Golf Club and Green Acres Golf Club on Elm Grove are located in the north of the suburb. Parks in Kew East include Willsmere-Chandler Park, home of one of the suburb's three soccer clubs, East Kew United Soccer club, and the adjacent Kew Billabong, Hays Paddock on

Glass Creek Glass Creek is a waterway flowing through the inner-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It is a minor tributary of the Yarra River and now largely runs through a series of underground drains. Etymology The creek was named after Hugh Glass, a land s ...

, is home to the Old Xaverians Soccer Club, and Kew Deaf Soccer Club. Hyde Park, Harrison Park and Stradbroke Park are located in the south-east of the suburb.

Shopping

The main shopping area, "Harp Village", is located on High Street, near the intersection with Harp Road. A small local centre, Belford Court Shopping Centre, is located on Belford Road.

Transport

The Eastern Freeway is accessible via the

Chandler Highway The Chandler Highway is a short road in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It runs from Heidelberg Road in Alphington, crosses the Yarra River, then continues across the Eastern Freeway, then terminates at an intersection with Princess St ...

or Burke Road. The

Main Yarra Trail __NOTOC__ The Yarra Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Yarra River through the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The trail follows the river from near its mouth, through the city ...

, a shared bicycle and pedestrian path, runs along the north side of the freeway. Belford Road bridges the freeway, providing a link to the northern part of the suburb. The suburb has a single tram line along High Street, which accommodates tram route 48. There are also a number of

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

which connect the suburb to surrounding areas.

Places of worship

Places of worship include: *St Paul's

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

, located on the corner of Windella Avenue and Hale Street. *East Kew

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...

, Normanby Road. *MWP Centre, Westbrook Street. *St Anne's

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Windellla Avenue. *The Leo Baeck Centre for Progressive Judaism, Harp Road.

References

{{City of Boroondara suburbs Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Boroondara