Waurn Ponds is a mainly residential southern suburb of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

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; ...

. The suburb is bounded by Rossack Drive,

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

, the Geelong to Warrnambool railway, Reservoir Road, Draytons Road, Pigdons Road,

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

and Honeys Road. It is home to the main Geelong campus of Deakin University and the regional Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre. There are many schools around Waurn Ponds like Mount Duneed Regional Primary School.

History

The town was named after the Waurn chain of ponds, a watercourse that flows from Mount Moriac over 30 km into the Barwon River.Waurn Ponds Revegetation Project
/ref> 'Waurn' meaning "place of many houses" in reference to aboriginal stone houses in the Wathaurong language, though there is no evidence of this outside of Mr Pascoes book. It is thought that the name derives from an Aboriginal word meaning camp, although another authority states that the original name was Warren's Chain of Ponds. Two early hotels – the Victoria Inn (1845–60) and the Waurn Ponds Inn (1856) were located on the Princes Highway serving travellers on the road. The Albert and Victoria vineyards, owned by David Pettavel, began growing grapes in 1848 and the area was better known as Pettavel in the 1860s.City of Greater Geelong: Waurn Ponds
/ref> The Pettavel Post Office opened on 12 January 1865 and remained open until 1952. The Waurn Ponds Post Office opened on 1 December 1871 and closed in 1968. A

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

for limestone was opened in the 1840s, with quarrying continuing from 1964 to today at the nearby Blue Circle Southern cement works. Kilns for making mortar lime operated until the 1970s.

Waurn Ponds Memorial Reserve

The Waurn Ponds Memorial Reserve (Formally Waurn Ponds Avenue of Honour) is located on the Corner of Cochranes Road and Waurn Ponds Drive, Waurn Ponds. The Avenue of Honour was planted in July 1919, by the residents of Waurn Ponds as a tribute to the Waurn Ponds

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

servicemen. In 1999, the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

decided to sell the Avenue of Honour. Local residents and the Victorian RSL president Bruce Ruxton campaigned that the Avenue of Honour would not be auctioned and that the site be protected. The Government of Victoria overturned the sale of the Waurn Ponds Memorial Reserve and a Committee of Management was appointed with Jack Harriott been the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

. A re dedication service was held with a plaque listing the Waurn Ponds World War I servicemen unveiled. In 2000, another two plaques were added with additional Waurn Ponds servicemen who served in World War I and another plaque honouring the Waurn Ponds servicemen and servicewomen who served in

World War II 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 ...

. Today there are plaques acknowledging those that served in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

nurses and servicewomen from the Geelong area. The Memorial Reserve is also home to the 3.7 Anti Aircraft Gun which is on display at the Reserve. An annual memorial service is held on the first Sunday of July to mark the anniversary of the Waurn Ponds Memorial Reserve.

Waurn Ponds Hall

The Waurn Ponds Hall which is located on 225 Waurn Ponds Drive was erected in 1924 as mechanics institute and free library. The Hall is now used for many local events and can be hired for private functions. The back of the Waurn Ponds Hall was the original Waurn Ponds State School which was relocated to Grovedale Primary School and later back to the Waurn Ponds Hall as an extension. Waurn Ponds started to become part of the outer suburbs of Geelong from the 1970s, with the opening of the Deakin University campus and the Waurn Ponds Hotel on the highway. Major development did not begin until the early 1990s, based around Ghazeepore Road. The intervening years have seen housing developments spread across the hillside towards

Grovedale Grovedale is a southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. At the , Grovedale had a population of 14,869. History Toponymy The locality was originally named ''Germantown'' because several families of German Lutheran origin had settled th ...

Heritage listed sites

Waurn Ponds contains a number of heritage listed sites, including: * Princes Highway and 110 Lemins Road, Lime Burning Kiln * Princes Highway, Waurn Ponds Creek Bridge

Geography

Waurn Ponds is home to the quite small Waurn Ponds Creek. It starts around the Mount Moriac region and eventually flows into the Barwon River near Belmont Common. As of 2007, it is low on water and is no more than one metre deep in most sections. It has a large weed problem which makes the creek look uninhabitable. The creek is home to species of fish (many introduced) including

Carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

Redfin Redfin Corporation is an American company that provides residential real estate brokerage and mortgage origination services. Based in Seattle, the company operates in more than 100 markets in the United States and Canada. In 2024, the company h ...

Roach Roach or The Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * Cal ...

Tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a freshwater, fresh- and brackish water, brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including Great Britain, Britain and Ireland east into Asia as far ...

Australian Grayling The Australian grayling (''Prototroctes maraena'') is a primarily freshwater fish found in coastal rivers in south-eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania. In past decades it has also been known as the cucumber mullet or cucumber herring, for i ...

and short finned eels. The creek also is a large habitat of native birds including the pacific black duck. Increase in annual rain will bring the creek back to its original status.

Community groups

The Friends of the Waurn Ponds Creek is a community group that gather on the first and third Sunday of the month to protect and conserve the health of the Waurn Ponds Creek and surrounding area. The Friends first started in 2002 and have won awards for their dedication and work towards enhancing the creek to protect the native fish and wildlife that habitat are along the creek. The Friends plant trees, clean up rubbish and maintain weeds and tree planting sites. Waurn Ponds has a large linear parkland following the creek. The neighbouring suburb of Grovedale has a

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipe ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

complex. The boundaries of Waurn Ponds were expanded in 2012 when, as a result of boundary changes related to the development of the nearby Armstrong Creek Growth Area, an area of land in the west of the current suburb between the Princes Highway and the Geelong-Warrnambool railway line was shifted from the locality of Mount Duneed to Waurn Ponds.

Sport

The Waurn Ponds Tennis Club located on 20 Belperroud Road off Waurn Ponds Drive, is a successful tennis club which has junior and senior competitions in the Tennis Geelong Competition. The Waurn Ponds Cricket Club located on Waurn Ponds Drive, access from Deakin University was established in 1986 and currently has senior men's team and junior sides. The club is in the Geelong Cricket Association. Deakin Ducks Football Club is an amateur soccer club based at the Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct.

Transport

Waurn Ponds is located on the

that links the suburb with the centre of

. It is also the southern endpoint of the Geelong Ring Road, completed in 2009. Anglesea Road heads south through the suburb, linking the area to

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

and Anglesea. Pioneer Road links the region west to

, the road not being completed eastward across the Waurn Ponds Creek until the mid-1990s. Public transport to the area is provided by buses operated by

CDC Geelong CDC Geelong, formerly known as Benders Busways, is a bus company operating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, with routes as well as charters. It is a subsidiary of CDC Victoria, in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia, in turn a subsidia ...

and

McHarry's Buslines McHarry's Buslines is a family-owned bus company in Geelong, Victoria, dating back to 1932. It operates public transport bus routes in Geelong, and on the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast, as well as school bus and charter A charter ...

, under contract to

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria. It was previously the trading name of the Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authority in Victo ...

. Routes to the Geelong city centre originate and terminate at Deakin University. * Route 1 – Deakin University to North Shore and return, via

, Belmont,

South Geelong railway station South Geelong railway station is a regional railway station on the Warrnambool V/Line rail service, Warrnambool line, part of the V/Line, Victorian railway network. It serves the suburb of South Geelong, Victoria, South Geelong, in Geelong, Vic ...

, Geelong,

Geelong West Geelong West is a commercial and residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. When Geelong was founded, the area was known as Kildare but its name was changed to Geelong West in 1875. The main street is Pakington Street. At the 2016 c ...

and

North Geelong North Geelong is a suburb of Geelong in the Australian state of Victoria. The suburb was bypassed by traffic from Melbourne coming from the Princes Freeway by the creation of the Geelong Ring Road, which was complete in 2009. At the , North G ...

– runs every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends. * Route 40 – Deakin University to

Geelong railway station Geelong railway station is a regional railway station on the Warrnambool line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the city of the same name, in Victoria, Australia. The original station opened on 1 November 1856.Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre,

Marshall railway station Marshall railway station is a regional railway station on the Warrnambool line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the southern suburb of Marshall, in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Marshall station is a ground level premium sta ...

Breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

and East Geelong – runs hourly on weekdays but does not run on weekends. * Route 41 – Deakin University to Geelong railway station and return, via

Waurn Ponds railway station Waurn Ponds railway station is a regional railway station on the Warrnambool line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the southern Geelong suburb of Waurn Ponds, in Victoria, Australia. Waurn Ponds station is a ground level pre ...

, Grovedale, Waurn Ponds Plaza, Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre, Belmont and

South Geelong South Geelong, also referred to as Geelong South, is a southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Its local government area is the City of Greater Geelong. At the 2016 census, South Geelong had a population of 993. The suburb is adjace ...

– runs every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. * Route 42 – Deakin University to Geelong railway station and return, via Waurn Ponds railway station, Grovedale, Waurn Pond Shopping Centre,

Highton Highton is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. With views across Geelong, Corio Bay and the surrounding region, Highton is located along the banks of the Barwon River and across the rolling Barrabool Hills. The Barwon River ...

, Belmont and South Geelong – runs every 20 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. * Route 43 – Deakin University to Geelong Railway station and return, via Highton and Newtown – runs every 40 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. The

Geelong V/Line rail service The Geelong line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 15 stations towards its terminus in Waurn Ponds, a southern suburb of Geelong, via the Regional Rail Link. It is the most used region ...

, to and from Geelong and

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 ...

, was extended to the new

, situated in Sugargum Drive, in 2014. The new station was named Grovedale in the planning stages, despite being physically located in Waurn Ponds, but the official name of Waurn Ponds was announced in July 2014. An earlier extension of Geelong line rail services in the direction of Waurn Ponds had been considered when funding was set aside for a new station beyond South Geelong station in 2003–04, but that eventually resulted in the new station being built at

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

, closer to Geelong, instead.

University

The

campus at Waurn Ponds had the beginnings in the

Gordon Institute of TAFE The Gordon Institute of TAFE is the Technical and Further Education institute predominantly servicing the wider Geelong area. The Gordon opened in 1887 and celebrated 130 years of providing education in 2017. The Gordon provides education ...

, who purchased land there in 1969. A building for the Applied Sciences was first built, followed by a library and student lodgings in 1975. In 1976 the Gordon Institute was divided into two parts, with academic courses becoming part of the newly formed Deakin University based at the Waurn Ponds campus. Deakin enrolled its first students at its Waurn Ponds campus in 1977. Today the university is located on a site, has over 1,000 staff and over 4000 on-campus students.Deakin University: Waurn Ponds campus
/ref> Deakin offers many social groups for students to join, The main Association is DUSA, followed closely by the Deakin Students' Commerce Society Deakin University Student Association#Deakin Commerce Students' Society

Retail

The Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre, located on the corner of Colac Road (Princes Highway) and Pioneer Road, is a regional-level shopping centre servicing the southern suburbs of

and the surrounding region. It was opened in the early 1990s, and has been continually expanded. The most recent expansion was completed in August 2014, and increased the total area of the centre to 47,000 square metres. There are over 160 different shops. The Geelong Homemaker Centre, located on the Colac Road (Princes Highway) at the intersection and Pigdons Road, opened in mid-2005. It includes

Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Per ...

and

Harvey Norman Harvey Norman is an Australian multinational retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise, with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned by ASX-lis ...

stores, as well as a number of smaller stores, such as

Supercheap Auto Supercheap Auto is an Australian automotive parts and accessories retailer. It was founded in 1972, operating as a mail-order business and opened its first store in Brisbane in 1974. It now has 341 stores across Australia and New Zealand. ...

, Beacon Lighting, Snooze, Ray's Outdoors and, most recently, JB-Hi-Fi. Waurn Ponds Plaza, located at the intersection of Rossack Drive and the Colac Road (Princes Highway), is another shopping centre in Waurn Ponds. It is the location of the office of the federal member for Corangamite,

Libby Coker Elizabeth Ann Coker (born 11 June 1962) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election, representing the Victorian seat of ...

References

External links

Victorian Places: Waurn Ponds
{{Authority control Suburbs of Geelong Lime kilns in Australia