Opinion
My shabby suburb was once at the cutting edge. Now, it is filled with hard rubbish
Everard Himmelreich
ContributorThe residents in my suburb are notably generous, especially when it involves contributing to their neighbours’ hard-rubbish collection piles.
As it turns out, there is a reason my little pocket of Melbourne is so charitable. With so much extra stuff, and a shrinking amount of space, it’s quite hard not to be.
Walk the streets of Boronia, and you will notice it is littered with hard-rubbish piles. We can’t get enough of them because Boronia is a suburb under pressure – as developments go up and up in height, homes are coming down.
Homes built in the 1960s and 1970s are being knocked down in targeted areas, such as central Boronia, and replaced with two- and three-storey blocks of units. It’s a big change for older residents who recall the orchards that once spread across the suburb.
My shabby suburb, which I like to think of as retro chic.
But the old timers know where patches of the past are hidden. Named after the boronia plant that once grew on the property of an early European settler, vestiges of Boronia’s rural connections remain. Take the Boronia CWA building on Sundew Avenue and the 1926 weatherboard Boronia Progress Hall that continues to host community events with its period-piece parquetry dance floor and stage.
Other quirky pieces of history include the former Templer Church Hall in Wadi Street that followers of the Temple Society built in the 1950s after they were deported from the Middle East to Australia. Rumour has it that those who settled in Boronia suggested Wadi for the street’s name because the road was often boggy after rain and reminded them of a Middle East wadi – watercourses that are dry until it rains.
Today, stories about life in Boronia are mostly about what the future holds rather than what it was like in the past.
Boronia is where the tar and cement of Melbourne’s eastern expansion hit slap bang against the dense, green, forested slopes of the Dandenong Ranges National Park. Here, the demographic changes sharply from the anti-vaxxers and supporters of Julian Assange often found in the leafy hills to those focused mainly on paying off the mortgage and getting by. The price and size of real estate drop with the descent from the Dandenongs down into Boronia’s flatter lands.
Gangs of sulphur-crested cockatoos still run amok above Boronia, and possums scurry across power lines and cause havoc in ceilings, but they are bit players in the hustle and bustle of a suburb undergoing historic change.
When my wife and I downsized to a block of units near Boronia railway station, we knew more blocks of units were planned for the lots around us and that being NIMBYs would only lead to disappointment. Us Baby Boomers have been asked to take one for the team and not block denser housing development that will enable Millennials and Zoomers a foothold in the tight housing market. Sadly this has meant we have lost a beautiful view of the Dandenongs from our bedroom as two- and three-storey blocks are built around us.
A sulphur-crested cockatoo.Credit: Angela Wylie
Needless to say, there has been a lot of disruption but we are breaking eggs to make an omelette.
There’s no dispute really that Boronia’s town centre is in need of updating.
Wedged between the big shopping malls of Westfield Knox at Wantirna South and Eastland at Ringwood, Boronia’s central shopping area is very much a throwback to the past. Some might call it retro chic, but others call it shabby and tired.
Its three shopping centres – Boronia Village, Boronia Junction and Dorset Square with its attached Boronia Mall – are close to each other but separated by busy roads and car parks, making it difficult to create a community vibe.
Gina Lollabrigida, in a publicity still for the 1954 film ‘Woman of Rome’, was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in her day. Credit: Getty Images
The mall opened in 1973 with a cutting-edge design that included a mosaic-tiled feature wall, chandeliers and a rotating stage, but that cutting edge has long since been blunted. Hollywood golden-era film star Gina Lollobrigida graced its portals soon after it opened, but any glamour has definitely left the building. Shoppers in the Dorset Square Coles need to keep a firm hand on their trolleys because the sloped floor means that if they let go to pick up the cheese, their groceries are likely to go on a rogue journey down to the milk.
It’s hard to disagree with the international architectural consultant who, I’m told, recommended the whole retail centre be knocked down and rebuilt.
The railway crossing that once blighted the deadly Dorset and Boronia roads intersection is gone, replaced in 1998 with an under-road rail crossing. A state government project is preparing to put a roof over the train station’s southern trench to create a new community park and give Boronia a new heart.
The council is also brightening up streetscapes with murals and pop-up artworks in public spaces, and more pleasant spaces are being created, such as the opening-up and greening of a former section of Blind Creek that was an underground drain.
The state government’s declaration of Boronia as a focal point for services, housing and public transport has prompted many proposals to accommodate increased activity, including 10-storey buildings in the town centre. Not everyone supports the changes; keeping the vista of the beautiful Dandenongs as Boronia’s backdrop is close to many residents’ hearts.
A proposal, now approved by VCAT, to drain the small man-made Lake Knox as part of a proposed residential development also led some residents to arc up.
But the change in Boronia’s demographics is already well under way and my suburb is becoming more diverse. Bahn mi vies with hamburgers, and after long being a federal Liberal seat, voters in this mortgage belt switched to Labor at a byelection last year.
Change is inevitable. And while it’s not a case of transforming an ugly duckling into a swan, getting the duck to fly looks like the goal.
Everard Himmelreich is a resident of Boronia.
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