
Balwyn North, also known as North Balwyn, 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
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 ...
, 10 km 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 Cities 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 ...
and
Whitehorse
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...
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 ...
s. Balwyn North recorded a population of 21,302 at the
2021 census.
It contains the localities of Greythorn and Bellevue.
Following
European settlement of Melbourne, development in Balwyn North was slow and largely as agricultural land. The suburban expansion after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
reached the area in the 1940s and 1950s and thousands of single dwelling houses were built across the area. Today it retains its largely residential character with small areas of retail and parkland.
History
Etymology
The suburb shares its name with Balwyn to the south. It is named for the estate of
Andrew Murray from the
Gaelic
Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to:
Languages
* Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
''bal'' and the Saxon ''wyn'', meaning 'the home of the vine'. Balwyn Road and the district were named after it.
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.
The Wurundjeri people are represented by the
.
20th century
Balwyn North was one of the first Melbourne suburbs to be developed according to the pattern of postwar suburbia, with expansive, quiet residential areas designed as family homes and relatively few business districts. The original route of Bulleen Road began at the present-day corner of Kilby Road and Burke Road, but by the 1900s, its route had changed to its present-day alignment. This was a result of
Elgar's Special Survey
In 1841, Henry Elgar purchased or eight square miles of land approximately 10 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The land was purchased from the Crown for one pound an acre under the terms of the short-lived Special Survey regul ...
, which dragged the alignment of Burke Road further west, resulting in the surrounding road network being forced to adjust.
A Balwyn North Post Office opened on 1 April 1937. This was renamed Burke Road in 1941, when a new Balwyn North office opened at its current location. The Greythorn Post Office opened in 1951.
The suburb was lampooned in the 1974 song by Australian band
Skyhooks
Skyhook was a location technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in location positioning. Founded in 2003, Skyhook initially focused on geolocating Wi-Fi access points by wardriving for commercial purposes. Skyhook trans ...
, Balwyn Calling.
21st century
Consistently among
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 ...
's top 20 most exclusive postcodes, Balwyn North's status as an affluent suburb has seen middle to upper-middle-class families from surrounding localities transfer to the area to take advantage of the suburb's relatively large block sizes and proximity to some of Victoria's best private schools including those in the neighbouring suburbs.
In the 12-month period to January 2020 Balwyn North reported a median house price of A$1.46 million for a three bedroom house.
Geography
The north-western part of the suburb is known as Bellevue and the eastern part as Greythorn.
Localities
Greythorn
Greythorn was developed later than North Balwyn, but has had residents living there since the 1830s, when the Maughan and Towt families bought large tracts of land in the area. Present-day Greythorn Road was formerly known as "Towt's Road" but renamed to "Whitethorn Road", after the many
whitethorn hedges that had been planted along it. To avoid confusion with
Whitehorse Road
Maroondah Highway (also known as Whitehorse Road from Deepdene to Surrey Hills) is a major east–west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and a highway connecting the north-eastern fringes of Melbourne to Mansfield, at the lowe ...
, the name was changed again to "Greythorn" some time in the 1920s.
The area around
Greythorn Park was a wildlife sanctuary from 1938 until 1954, when the area between the park and Greythorn Road was subdivided and sold for housing.
Greythorn Primary School was opened in 1953 and occupies a site covering approximately two hectares.
Parks and gardens
Balwyn North is host to a large number of parks and reserves, which are used for both passive and active recreation. A line of parks through which
Glass Creek
Glass Creek is a waterway flowing through the middle ring 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 l ...
formerly ran at surface level lies at the heart of the suburb, stretching from Jacka Street Reserve in the east, through
Gordon Barnard Reserve and
Hislop Park in the centre, ending with
Macleay Park in the west. Other parks in the suburb include
Greythorn Park,
Leigh Park
Leigh Park is a large suburb (population 27,500) of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park (generally referred to as 'The Warren').
Staunton ...
and
Koonung Creek Reserve
Koonung Creek Reserve is a linear park in the suburb of Balwyn North, Melbourne, Australia. It follows the path of the Eastern Freeway (Melbourne), Eastern Freeway from Bulleen Road in the west to Doncaster Road to the east.
History
The area ...
.
Transport
Bicycle tracks connect with 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 ...
, 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 ...
and the
Eastern Freeway.
Tram route 48 passes through Balwyn North, running along Doncaster Road and terminating at the intersection with Balwyn Road. A number of
bus routes
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in ...
connect Balwyn North with suburbs such as
Box Hill,
Camberwell
Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...
,
Doncaster
Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
and
Templestowe
Templestowe is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Templestowe recorded a population of 16,966 at the .
The ...
. A number of freeway bus services have stops at the entrance of the Eastern Freeway, on the northern edge of the suburb.
In recent times, there have been numerous calls from both residents and local councils for
the extension of the route 48 tram from its present terminus to either the Doncaster Park + Ride facility or further along Doncaster Road to
Westfield Doncaster
Westfield Doncaster (formerly Doncaster Shoppingtown) is a large Shopping center, shopping centre and public transport transport interchange, interchange in the eastern suburb of Doncaster, Victoria, Doncaster in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ...
.
Education
Located in Balwyn North are several primary schools, such as Greythorn, Balwyn North, St Bedes, Boroondara Park and Bellevue.
Balwyn High School
Balwyn High School is a state-run high school (years 7–12) in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn, in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1954. As of February 2013, it had 1948 students, making it the fourth large ...
is located on Buchanan Avenue, and is so highly sought after, particularly by Asian families, that property prices within its student catchment area sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than nearby properties not located in the area.
Shopping
The main shopping strip is located at the intersection of Doncaster and Bulleen Roads, known as "The Village". There are a number of other local shopping strips, such as Greythorn Village, located further east along Doncaster Road, the East Balwyn Shopping Centre and Belmore Heights Shopping Centre.
Notable residents
*
Warwick Capper
Warwick Richard Capper (born 12 June 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Bears in the Australian Football League (AFL), known before 1990 as the Victorian Football League (VFL). An acc ...
*
Tania Lacy
Tania Jane Lacy is an Australian comedian.
Early life and education
Originally from Toowoomba, Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Lacy spent many of her early years travelling with her family. Her father, then an officer in the army, was poste ...
*
John Safran
John Michael Safran (; born 13 August 1972) is an Australian radio personality, satirist, documentary maker and author, known for combining humour with religious, political and ethnic issues. First gaining fame appearing in '' Race Around the W ...
*
Jo Silvagni
Joanne Louise Silvagni (née Bailey; 10 March 1970) is an Australian model and television personality and television hostess/compere.
Career
Silvagni was born on 10 March 1970 to Barrie and Fran Bailey and was educated at Tintern Grammar, in t ...
*
Stephen Silvagni
See also
*
City of Camberwell
The City of Camberwell was a Local government in Australia, local government area about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1914 until 1994.
Histo ...
– Balwyn North was previously within this former local government area.
*
Balwyn
Balwyn () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census.
The sub ...
References
{{City of Whitehorse suburbs
Suburbs of Melbourne
Suburbs of the City of Boroondara
Suburbs of the City of Whitehorse