Doncaster, Victoria

Doncaster Melbourne, Victoria
The front of the new Westfield Doncaster
Doncaster
Coordinates	37°47′13″S 145°07′26″E / 37.787°S 145.124°E / -37.787; 145.124Coordinates: 37°47′13″S 145°07′26″E / 37.787°S 145.124°E / -37.787; 145.124
Population	18,359 (2011)[1]
• Density	2,063/km2 (5,343/sq mi)
Established	1860s
Postcode(s)	3108
Area	8.9 km2 (3.4 sq mi)
Location	15 km (9 mi) from Melbourne
LGA(s)	City of Manningham
State electorate(s)	Doncaster, Bulleen
Federal Division(s)	Menzies
Suburbs around Doncaster: Bulleen Templestowe Lower Templestowe Balwyn North Doncaster Doncaster East Mont Albert North Box Hill North Blackburn North

Doncaster is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Manningham. At the 2011 Census, Doncaster had a population of 18,359.

The suburb, locally known as 'Donny', just as its name sake in the UK, is situated on 8.9 km² of land, around the top of the 120m high Doncaster Hill. The suburb consists of a central area along the top of Doncaster Hill, which includes several historical buildings along Doncaster Road, the Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre and surrounding high-rise apartments, while the rest of the suburb is typical of many of Melbourne's eastern suburbs, with extensive low-density housing. Today the suburb is perhaps most notable for its shopping centre, one of the largest in Australia.

Geography

The border of the suburb follows the Koonung Creek from Doncaster Road, along the south of the suburb to Wetherby Road, which, with Victoria Street, forms the eastern border. The northern border follows Ruffey Creek, Williamsons Road, Manningham Road and Ayr Street, to the junction of the Koonung Creek and Doncaster Road.

History

In 1841 Frederic Unwin, a Sydney solicitor, purchased 5,120 acres (20.7 km²) of land, including most of the present suburb of Doncaster. The land was purchased from the Crown for one pound an acre under the terms of the short-lived Special Survey regulations. The area was sometimes known as Unwin's Special Survey.

The Doncaster region was settled in the 1860s and 1870s, predominantly by German settler orchardists. The German community was named Waldau,^[2] but the name Doncaster gradually became commonly accepted. A Lutheran church was the first one in Doncaster in 1858. A Lutheran school opened in 1860 and a denominational school in 1861.^[3] Doncaster Post Office opened on 17 May 1860.^[4]

Schramm's Cottage, an historic stone cottage originally located in Doncaster Road (at the site of the fountain next to the Municipal Offices), was relocated to the site of the original Lutheran Church building in Victoria Street in the 1970s. The remains of the Waldau Cemetery, where approximately 150 burials took place between 1853 and 1888, are located in the grounds of Schramm's Cottage.^[5]

In the 1880s an observation tower (285 ft high) was constructed on Doncaster Hill, which attracted day-trippers to (what was then) the countryside.

Doncaster was the location of the first electric tram to run in Melbourne in 1889. The tram started in Doncaster and ended in Box Hill (about 3.5 km away). Consequently this was named "Tram Road". However, the service did not earn any profit, so it ended in 1896 due to feuds with land holders and financial problems.^[6] The main road through the suburb, Doncaster Road, was formally named Main Street.

Doncaster remained an orchard area until the 1970s, with the majority of houses built from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Doncaster Hill is an ambitious project transforming Central Doncaster (Doncaster Hill) into an apartment and retail mecca. Being only 12 km from the city and with fantastic views of the Melbourne CBD skyline, much time and investment has been placed by the City of Manningham. However, a lot of apartments have not sold as predicted and there is much controversy about the cost and scale of the project, and the impact that extra traffic congestion will create - especially as there is poor public transport services in the area.

Transport

Doncaster was first settled with the first electric tram in the Southern Hemisphere in the late 19th century. Operating from Box Hill to Doncaster (along what is today Tram Road), the tram opened up accessibility to much land in the area. Unfortunately, the line did not last more than a few years.

The major east-west road (Doncaster Road) leads from Kew to Donvale. The Eastern Freeway terminated at Doncaster Road at the western edge of the suburb from 1983 to December 1997.

As a result of a decision by the Victorian Cain Labor Government, the stage 2 section from Bulleen Road to Doncaster Road was only two lanes each way. During this period Doncaster suffered from heavy traffic congestion and air pollution as Doncaster Road carried 60,000 vehicles a day as a major arterial road. Since the Kennett Government extended the Eastern Freeway along the course of the Koonung Creek to Springvale Road, Doncaster's through-traffic has dropped considerably.

Throughout the 1970s the Doncaster line was planned by the State Government to run down the middle of the Eastern Freeway, with land acquired for the line, but was sold in the 1980s.^[7] Various plans have also been made for extension of the Route 48 Tram north to Doncaster.^[8] Present bus services exist in the area running from a park and ride centre, along dedicated transit lanes to the city.

Shopping

In 1969 Westfield Doncaster also known as "shoppo ule" was built on the corner of Doncaster and Williamsons Roads and is a well-known shopping complex in Melbourne. In the early 1980s and again in the early 1990s, it was renovated and extended. From September 2006 to October 2008, it went through a large revitalisation, improving and enlarging the centre dramatically.^[9]

Education

Schools located in Doncaster are:

• Doncaster Secondary College
• Birralee Primary School
• St. Gregory the Great Primary School
• Doncaster Primary School

Sport

The suburb has an Australian Rules football team, The Doncaster Sharks, competing in the Eastern Football League.^[10]

Manningham United FC is a Doncaster based Association Football club, currently associated with Football Federation Victoria.^[11]

The Manningham Cricket Club caters for the area, playing in the Eastern Cricket Association and based at Rieschiecks Reserve, on the corner of Victoria Road and George Street.

The Doncaster Baseball Club was awarded a Diamond Award in 2008 after 10 of the 17 teams it fielded in 2007 made the finals, and three won their premiership titles. In recent years many players from the Dragons (men's 18+ team) have gone on to play for Victoria.

Golfers play at the course of the Eastern Golf Club, on Doncaster Road.^[12]

Government

Doncaster has a Victorian State Parliamentary seat named after it, the Electoral district of Doncaster. The current member is Mary Wooldridge. Doncaster is encompassed within the Federal Seat of Menzies and Kevin Andrews is the local member. At the municipal level, it is located within the City of Manningham.

See also

• City of Doncaster and Templestowe - A former local government area of which Doncaster was a part.

References

• Collyer, Eric (1994) Doncaster: A Short History, Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society
• Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society Website

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