| Arthurs Seat Melbourne, Victoria |
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View of Arthurs Seat from Rosebud Pier |
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Arthurs Seat
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| Population: | 213 (2006)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 3936 | ||||||||||||
| Area: | 1.5 km² (0.6 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 72 km (45 mi) from Melbourne | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Mornington Peninsula | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Nepean | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Flinders | ||||||||||||
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Arthurs Seat[2] is a hill and locality on the Mornington Peninsula, within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula, about 75 km south east of Melbourne, Australia.
Arthurs Seat is a major tourist drawcard due to its natural bushland, sweeping views and man-made attractions. The hill rises to 305 metres above sea level.
The underlying rocks are Devonian granite, bounded to the west by the Selwyn Fault. The vegetation consists of dry open forest of mixed eucalypt species, which was extensively burnt during a bushfire in 1997.
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It was named by Acting Lieutenant John Murray when he entered Port Phillip in the ship Lady Nelson in January 1802, for an apparent resemblance to the hill of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh (which was his home city). Captain Matthew Flinders climbed Arthurs Seat on 27 April 1802.[3]
The term Arthurs Seat was first applied to the mountain, then to a squatting run, next to the pre-emptive right and recently to a suburb. Andrew McCrae had the run for about 8 years until the Burrells took it over 1n 1851 and remained for about 70 years. They purchased the pre-emptive right of 640 acres, which extended from the McCrae coast to the park boundary at the south end of Cook St. In 1874, Samuel Smythe, a Flemington Bridge tanner established a wattle plantation on 80 acres but the venture was short lived. McCrae's Wattle Rd was probably the track taken by bark strippers.(Sources:A Dreamtime of Dromana, Wannaeue parish map, Rosebud Flower of the Peninsula, Ratebooks 1864-1920.) Lime burning was combined with subsistence farming by the pioneers west of Boneo Rd but for those near Dromana, timber provided an income stream. Isobel Moresby mentioned "The Slips" where timber was slid down Arthurs Seat to waiting ships.It is well known that there were rails at the various piers but Allan Ritchie's shire construction gang found evidence of another narrow gauge railway when they were constructing Latrobe Pde.They uncovered a section of rail, axles and wheels which a Latrobe Pde resident displayed on his front lawn for years. Old timers told Allan that the railway carried timber for the boilers of steamships on a gantry reaching the bay near the caravan park at the west end of Dromana.[4]
In 1896, a rough track was made to the summit, and the first resident, farmer and orchardist James Chapman, settled on top of the mountain. A properly graded road was built in 1929 and the lookout tower opened in 1934.[5] The 950 m long chairlift route was built in 1960 and opened on 22 December 1960. It became a popular tourist attraction, with an estimated 100,000 users in 2002 according to the Mornington Peninsula Tourism Council.[6]
On 3 January 2003, a pylon tower supporting the chairlift collapsed, injuring 18 people and leaving 65 others trapped for several hours. Some of the passengers sustained neck and spinal injuries, although none were life-threatening.[7] A subsequent investigation found the chairlift had met all required standards and was regularly inspected, and safety and testing requirements were subsequently strengthened by the Victorian Government.
After the owner spent $500,000 on extensive repairs, it was reopened a year later, but on 18 March 2004 a second incident occurred when a chair came loose and a 77-year-old woman suffered two broken legs.[8] The ride was closed down by WorkSafe Victoria but was allowed to resume operations in October 2004. The owner was charged in May 2005 by WorkSafe under section 22 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act over the 2004 incident.
After pleading guilty to failing to carry out adequate maintenance, the company was convicted and fined $110,000 in October 2007.[9][10]
On 16 May 2006 a mechanical failure stranded, but did not injure, about 12 tourists on the chairlift.[11] In August 2008 the company pleaded guilty to failing to take care of the safety of non-employees. It was not convicted, but ordered to pay $15,000 in costs and ordered to carry out a safety improvement project. This involved a range of works to bring it into line with Canadian chairlift standard Standards Council of Canada Z-98, an audit of safety [12] before it re-opens and three-monthly reports on compliance with Z-98 for two years. The chairlift remains closed as a result of this incident. In October 2009 Parks Victoria started looking for an operator to design, construct, run and maintain a new chairlift [13]
The attractions at Arthurs Seat include Arthurs Seat State Park (including "Seawinds" gardens), a scenic chairlift, a lookout tower, a maze and two restaurants. There is a viewing area near the summit which has extensive views of Port Phillip with the Melbourne City skyline and the You Yangs visible on the horizon on a clear day.[14]
The summit is connected to nearby Dromana by a winding tourist road which opened in 1929. Prominent viewpoints from the road include Bowens Point (145 m), Franklin Point (195 m), Murrays Lookout (247m), and Chapmans Point (274 m), the latter being the best vantage point to view the peninsula itself.
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