Kew East, also known as East Kew, is a suburb of

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, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, east from the

Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

, 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 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 ...

. Kew East recorded a population of 6,620 at the 2021 census. The suburb was developed as a series of small farming estates and communities. It expanded rapidly with the development of tramways and railways, including the now-closed

Outer Circle railway line The Outer Circle Railway was opened in stages in 1890 and 1891, as a steam-era suburban railway line, in Melbourne, Australia. It traversed much of the modern City of Boroondara, including the suburbs of (from north to south) Kew East, Cambe ...

which had a station in Kew East. Today it is a mostly

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

suburb with some small remnants of its agricultural past.

History

Pre-European settlement

The formally recognised

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

for the area in which Balwyn North is located are the

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

people. They are represented by the

Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, previously the Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council, is a Registered Aboriginal Party representing the Wurundjeri people, an Aboriginal Australian ...

19th century

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 st ...

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 & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, ...

20th century

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.

21st century

The notorious 2020 Eastern Freeway truck crash, which received national news coverage, occurred in the suburb.

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.

Geography

The suburb is bounded to the east by

Burke Road Burke Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in Melbourne, Australia. It runs from Ivanhoe East to Caulfield East and through the major shopping district at Camberwell. It is aligned with the western boundary of Elgar's Special Survey, ...

, 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.

Demographics

As of 2016, 68.2% of residents were born in

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 ...

, 4.3% were born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 2.4% in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, 2.1% in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and 23% were born elsewhere. Hays Paddock Kew East Eastern Freeway from balloon 2007-03-05

Economy

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

Road

The Eastern Freeway is accessible via the

Chandler Highway Chandler Highway is a short road in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne, connecting Alphington over the Yarra River and Eastern Freeway to Kew. Its total length is less than 2 kilometres, leading to the claim that it is "the shortest highw ...

or Burke Road. The

Main Yarra Trail The Main Yarra Trail, also known as the Yarra Trail is a shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Yarra River through the northeastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The trail follows the river from near its mo ...

, 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.

Public transport

The suburb has a tram line along High Street, which is served by route 48.Route 48

Yarra Trams Yarra Trams is the trading name of the operator of the Trams in Melbourne, tram network in Melbourne, Australia, which is owned by VicTrack and leased to Yarra Trams by the Victoria State Government, Victorian Department of Transport and Planni ...

There are also a number of

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is one of the brands of CDC Victoria, which is in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As a ...

and

Kinetic Melbourne Kinetic Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Australia, operating a fleet of 602 buses on 45 bus routes, as well as seven SmartBus routes. It commenced operations on 31 January 2022, taking over all routes previously operated by Transdev Me ...

bus routes which connect the suburb to surrounding areas.

Education

Schools

There are two co-educational government schools located in Kew East —

Kew High School Kew High School is a co-educational school in suburban Melbourne for students in years 7–12. The school has an enrolment of approximately 1146 students from the suburbs of Kew, Balwyn North, Hawthorn, Ivanhoe, Kew East and Richmond. 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.

Sports

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, 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.

Places of worship

Places of worship include: *St Paul's

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church 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 a ...

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

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 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