Deer Park, Victoria
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Deer Park is a suburb in
History
The suburb was originally named Kororoit Creek, after the creek running through the suburb but was renamed after the Melbourne Hunt Club used the area to house their stock of game deer. The original Hunt Club building still stands on Ballarat Road, next to the Deer Park sports oval and is now a community centre. The Hunt Club was opened on Saturday, 11 July 1885.[2] The Post Office opened in 1878 as Kororoit Creek, and was renamed Deer Park in 1889.[3]
Following the discovery of gold in
A fatal accident at the factory in 1923 led to production of
Suburban expansion in the 1920s was slowed during the 1930s depression, but in the post war period the suburb expanded rapidly. With labour shortages and a large demand for products during the post-war boom, ICI commenced housing development in Deer Park to attract workers to the area and many of the surrounding streets are named for localities in the UK, where ICI had operations.[7]
Transport
The electrification of the train line to Deer Park was expected to occur in the 1980s, however the project has been ignored by successive State Governments. Many residents believe the delay in upgrading the train line is related to the fact that Deer Park is situated in one of the safest Labor seats in the country.
Melbourne bus routes 215, 400, 420, 422, 426 and 456 service the area, with the 422 and 420 servicing the Deer Park station.
The main road through Deer Park is Ballarat Road, which carries traffic between
Facilities
Education
Deer Park boasts two public primary schools, a Catholic primary school, and a secondary college.
- Deer Park North Primary School
- Deer Park West Primary School
- St Peter Chanel School
- Victoria University Secondary College – Junior Campus
Flora and fauna
Kororoit Creek is located on the northern boundary of the suburb. This area (particularly in the West) has been home to large healthy populations of native reptiles for thousands of years, including
Due to more recent development of the Cairnlea estate and improved vegetation on the banks of Kororoit Creek, native species of frogs have taken advantage and have taken up residents in the new wetlands and lakes. The common eastern froglet and even the now endangered growling grass frog have been seen and heard in the new wetlands and around Kororoit Creek.
Prison
The Deer Park Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre, which opened on 15 August 1996, was the first privately owned and -operated prison in Victoria. It transferred to public ownership on 3 October 2000, the government took control of the facility, and it was renamed the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, after prison welfare campaigner Phyllis Frost. As of 2022 it is run by Corrections Victoria.[8]
Today
On the southern outskirts of the suburb there are large farm properties which have now being developed for housing under the development names Brimbank Gardens and St Andrews Field. This area surrounds Mount Derrimut, which saw the relocation of the Sunshine Golf Club to allow its former location, east of Fitzgerald Road, to be redeveloped as housing.
The suburb has an
Notable residents
- Marlene Kairouz
- Nathan Phillips (actor)[citation needed]
- fellow of the Australian Academy of Science[10]
See also
- City of Sunshine – Deer Park was previously within this former local government area.
References
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Deer Park (Suburbs and Localities)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "Sporting Intelligence". Argus. 13 July 1885.
- ^ Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 11 April 2008
- ^ Orica History, From the Gold Fields to the ASX
- ^ HO2 – ICI Residential Area, Deer Park
- ^ National Trust of AustraliaDeer Park Explosives Factory Complex
- ^ City of Brimbank Post-contact Cultural Heritage Study, 2000, pp14-19
- ^ "Dame Phyllis Frost Centre". Corrections Victoria. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ Full Points Footy, Deer Park, retrieved 15 April 2009
- ^ "Australian Biochemist Vol 42 No 2 August 2011, Page 32" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.