Harkness is a suburb in

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 ...

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, North west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the

City of Melton The City of Melton is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, on Melbourne's western rural–urban fringe. It covers , and in June 2018, Melton had population of 156,713. It is governed by the Melton City Council. The seat of local ...

local government area. Harkness recorded a population of 12,463 at the 2021 census. The suburb was gazetted by the Office of Geographic Names on 9 February 2017, following a proposal for eleven new suburbs by the City of Melton. The new name officially took effect from 23 August 2017. Prior to the suburb's creation, the area was mostly part of Melton West, in addition to a small section of Toolern Vale in the north. The name "Harkness" was the surname of an early settler, William Scott Harkness, who was born in Roxburghshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1839 and arrived in Melbourne at

Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...

in 1852. He was the manager of Strathtulloh and a farmer. He died in 1908.

Education

Arnolds Creek Primary School is located in Harkness. The school opened in 2014. Located next to the primary school is Arnolds Creek Kindergarten. The suburb is home to many early learning centres, including Melton Early Learning Centre, located just off Coburns Road, as well as Melton Montessori, located adjacent to Arnolds Creek Primary School, and Happy Feet Learning Centre, located on the corner of Centenary Boulevard and Bulmans Road.

Recreation

Harkness is home to a number of open spaces and recreational facilities. Behind Arnolds Creek Primary School is Arnolds Creek Reserve, which is home to the

Melton Central Football Club The Melton Central Football Club, known as the "Blues", is an Australian rules football club based in the satellite city of Melton, 35 km west of Melbourne. The club is affiliated with the Riddell District Football League. Formed by the ...

. Adjacent to the school is a playground and some basketball and tennis courts. Nearby is a shared-use path that runs alongside the western branch of Arnolds Creek. Further to the east of the suburb, bordering on Coburns Road and Melton East, is Navan Park and Navan Park Lake, feed by Arnolds Creek, which has an off-leash area for dogs, electric undercover BBQs, exercise equipment, a playground and toilet facilities. There is also a shared-use path that runs alongside the eastern branch of Arnolds Creek and around the lake, which is popular with joggers and family cyclists. In the north west of the suburb, there are many open spaces and parks, including Stefan Drive Reserve, Parkview Street Reserve and Willandra Boulevard Park and a basketball court.

References

External links

Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Melton {{melbourne-geo-stub