Vermont South, Victoria

Vermont South is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 19 km (12 miles) east of its Central Business District. It had a population of 11,954 at the . The eastern boundary is Dandenong Creek, which flows from the Dandenong Ranges through to Port Phillip. The suburb was mostly developed in the late 1960s through till the mid-1970s after developers bought the orchards in the area. Vermont is derived from the French language meaning "green hill".

History

Before the first European colonialists, the landscape was thickly timbered bushland, occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language group. They were hunters and gatherers, camping in the creeks and gullies near where Felgate Parade, Woodleigh Crescent, Great Western Drive, the Bellbird Dell and Billabong Park are located today.

After settlers decided their fortune was not to be made in the Victorian gold fields, they turned to the land as there was a living to be made supplying the needs of the fast growing Melbourne. The settlers cleared their land and sold the timber for firewood in Melbourne for 10/- a load. Other settlers burned the timber and sold the charcoal instead.

With the money earned, settlers could purchase supplies to bring home on their return journey on the dusty tracks of summer, which became quagmires in winter. Housewives also made butter to sell at Moran & Catos, grocers in Prahran. The settlers split their own timber for fencing and homes. Some homes were built of wattle and daub with bark roofs. The first crops were hay, potatoes and other root vegetables. Cash was scarce and barter arrangements were common.
The area was first surveyed in 1855 by Clement Hodgkinson, the District Surveyor to the Victorian Survey General's Office. By the 1880s, apart from some general farming, orchards dominated much of the area's landscape.The peak of growing fruit was 1930-1939 followed by a steady decline due to labour shortages and lack of markets during 1939–1945. In 1968, East Burwood was divided into two suburbs; Vermont South and Burwood East. This scheme also rezoned 13 properties (about 424 acres) just north of Springvale Road for residential purposes. Nunawading Council began approving large-scale residential subdivisions with "Residential C" zoning in early 1968, and subsequent rate increases forced many of Vermont South's orchardists and farmers to sell their landholdings to developers–many of which had kept in the family for over a century.

Council Engineer William Sewart drew up a master plan for Vermont South, so as each parcel of land came up for subdivision the plan had to conform with the road layout and other matters set out in the master plan. In conjunction with the Education Department, land was designated for Livingstone and Weeden Primary schools. A high school site was designated for the south of Burwood Road, but this ultimately did not proceed. Council filed a compulsory land acquisition request with the Supreme Court, which lead to the purchase of 10 acres at Livingstone Road for municipal purposes. A library, child care centre, community house, and sporting facilities were later established on the surrounding site.

''The Burwood Rise'' estate, which occupied a 95-acre area between Livingstone and Stanley Roads and around Dalroy Crescent & Consort Avenue, was developed between 1968–1971 and formed the suburb's first major housing project. It aimed to house future customers of the nearby Forest Hill Shopping Centre, which was owned by the estate's developer, Paul Fayman.

Construction of large residential estates continued into the mid-1980s, with the largest being developed by the Hanover Holdings conglomerate with over 260 blocks in and around Kiama Close, Mellissa Grove, Chablis Crescent, Delacombe Drive and Hempstead Avenue. Hanover's home-building division, Hanover Homes, established several hundred homes in the suburb.

Beginning in 1969 and continuing well into the 1970s, local builders opened display homes along Burwood Highway and Springvale Road. It formed one of the state's largest display precincts, comprising around 100 individual designs by builders like Glenvill Homes, Tomkin Homes, RDC Homes, Deva Ideal Homes, Hayes Homes, Lend Lease Homes, Macquarie Builders, the Inge Brothers, Williams Quality Homes, Individual Homes, and Stockhold Homes.

Commercial

In 1967, a company associated with the prominent Jacobson family announced that they would establish a modern, car-oriented hotel/motel complex at the north-east corner of the Burwood Highway and Springvale Road. Works commenced in the second half of 1968 and the premises opened in 1969. The Burvale was popular as a live music venue during the 1970s, performances there included a concert by AC/DC in December 1975. A heritage overlay was proposal by Whitehorse Council in 2015 but was ultimately overlooked.

The Vermont South Shopping Centre is located at the corner of Burwood Highway and Hanover Road in the Melbourne suburb of Vermont South, Victoria. Anchored by supermarket chains Aldi and Coles, it has 650 free parking spaces and over 50 specialty stores including Liqourland, a dry cleaners, multiple restaurants, multiple bakeries, multiple Asian grocers, a news agency, a dentist, and numerous hair & beauty salons.

In 2005, construction began at Burwood Highway of the largest Bunnings warehouse in Australia at the time - creating more than 200 jobs for the local community and representing an investment of $25 million. The 16,550m² site includes a 9,858 main warehouse, a 1,880m² under cover timber drive-through, a 3,540m² nursery and 450 car spaces. The main store has approximately 979 bays (or 3 km) of merchandise and featured in a '' Better Homes and Gardens'' special''.'' A 2,030m² Officeworks with 49 parking spaces was completed next to the Bunnings in 2012.

Statistics

2021 Census data

* Population: 11,954 (48.1% male, 51.9% female)
* Number of families: 3,453
* Number of private dwellings: 4,443
* Average number of people per household: 2.8
* Median weekly household income: $1,944
* Median weekly rent: $496
* Average number of motor vehicles per dwelling: 2
* Median age: 46
* Country of birth, top responses: Australia (6,136), China (1,694), Malaysia (500), India (406), Sri Lanka (290) & England (289)
* Religious affiliation, top responses: No Religion (4,515), Catholic (2,072), Anglican (766), Not Stated (673) & Buddhism (669)

In Film & TV

Neighbours

The year 1986 marked the debut of a new Channel Ten TV series that would go on to achieve notable longevity: a teen-oriented soap opera simply titled Neighbours. Filming took place at the Forest Hill studios, where the old Holiday Island set was repurposed to represent the fictional Lasseter's Hotel complex. Location filming was primarily focused on the nearby cul-de-sac, Pin Oak Court, which has stood in for the fictional Ramsay Street for over a quarter of a century. Other locations in the fictional city of Erinsborough include a house in Huskey Court (Beverley Marshall's house), the Saxonwood Apartments building (Karl's Apartment), Biralee Pre-School (India's Pre-School), Weeden Heights Primary School (‘Erinsborough Primary School’) and the Burvale Hotel. Singer-songwriter Adele visited Pin Oak Court in March 2017.

References

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Suburbs of Melbourne
Suburbs of the City of Whitehorse