Alphington, Victoria

Alphington Melbourne, Victoria
Alphington
Coordinates	37°46′48″S 145°01′23″E / 37.78°S 145.023°E / -37.78; 145.023Coordinates: 37°46′48″S 145°01′23″E / 37.78°S 145.023°E / -37.78; 145.023
Population	4,603 (2011 census)[1]
• Density	1,644/km2 (4,260/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	3078
Area	2.8 km2 (1.1 sq mi)
Location	7 km (4 mi) from Melbourne
LGA(s)	City of Darebin City of Yarra
State electorate(s)	Northcote
Federal Division(s)	Batman
Suburbs around Alphington: Thornbury Ivanhoe Ivanhoe Fairfield Alphington Ivanhoe Fairfield Kew Kew East

Alphington is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra. At the 2011 census, Alphington had a population of 4,603.

It is a primarily residential suburb consisting of mixture of 1970s brick veneer, recently built townhouses as well as period weatherboards. There is also a major paper production plant in the suburb. The paper mill has closed production and the area sold for a proposed new suburb called Yarra Bend. It is a very divisive project between residents, developers and local and State Government. The Chandler highway bridge. Single lanes either way, off a freeway, onto a main road.

Alphington shares a postcode with neighbouring suburb Fairfield,^[2] and is bounded by the Yarra River in the south and the Darebin Creek in the east.

Present day Alphington has a young demographic, with more than 58% of the suburb being under the age of 40. Census data also shows that 36% of working Residents are employed in professional positions and on average earn $1538 a week, or more than $200 a week above the Melbourne metropolitan average.^[3] Close proximity to the Melbourne CBD, gentrification and high demand for property has caused house prices in Alphington to increase dramatically over the past couple of years, with median house prices currently at $1.06m,^[3] representing a 14% increase from 2011 to 2012. This also makes Alphington one of 51 Victorian suburbs with a median house price of over $1 million.^[4] Rental prices in the suburb also increased by 9% to $590 per week.

History

Darebin Creek area is the traditional country of the Wurundjeri-willam people who are part of the Woiworung clan of the Kulin Nation, who are traditional owners of the country from west of Melbourne along to the Darebin Creek and to outer eastern Melbourne. For the Wurundjeri-willam people, the fertile Alphington region provided fresh water from the Darebin Creek and seasonal fish, tubers and shoots from water plants; while birds and animals provided clothing and food, trees and plants provided food and tools. The original owners quarried local silcrete and basalt to produce tools; hammer stones were used to create sharp blades, axes and other stone tools.

The genesis of Alphington was the Bridge Hotel and Darebin Creek Bridge on Heidelberg Road, both commenced in the 1840s, with a new stone arch bridge erected in 1864.^[5]

Alphington was named by Sir William Manning after his birthplace, Alphington in Devon, England.^[6][7]

Alphington Post Office opened on 2 February 1858.^[8]

Alphington was originally part of the Jika Jika Parish, bounded by Rathmines Street to the west, Darebin Creek to the east, and the Yarra River to the south.

In the mid-1800s disillusioned Chinese migrated from the goldfields and developed market gardens at Lucerne Farm, which is now the site La Trobe Golf Club in Alphington. Dairy farms operated in the area and dairy stock was commonly grazed, often roaming without restriction onto private property and down to the creek. The farmers of Alphington took their produce to the population of Melbourne at the Queen Victoria Market in central Melbourne. Towards the end of the 19th century, urbanization caused Alphington and neighbouring Ivanhoe to be developed as greenfield housing for the growing middle classes of Melbourne.

Parks and open space

Alphington has tracts of green open space, such as the Darebin Parklands and Alphington Park. The suburb also features the Latrobe Golf Club. The area around Alphington railway station contains a stand of River Red Gum trees, the oldest of which (closest to Platform 1) likely predates European settlement. These areas have been revegetated with indigenous plantings by local residents and the local Council beginning in the late 1990s and are now characterised by vigorous young Red Gum growth and the return of native fauna such as tawny frogmouths. Sightings of echidnas have been reported. The site's proximity to the Darebin Parklands increases the likelihood of such habitations into the future.

A notable location in the part of Alphington to the south of Heidelberg Road is the revegetated wetlands. This area abuts the Yarra River, and includes the disused modification to the river bank once referred to as the Alphington Swimming Pool.

The Darebin Enterprise Centre is located just to the north east of the railway station and adjacent to the shallow valley of the Darebin Creek. There is no pedestrian access along the train bridge over the creek. Strangely, the Darebin Creek Trail terminates beneath this same bridge - preventing what would otherwise seem to be a logical connection to the Yarra River.

Industry

Adjacent to the wetlands to the west and near to the Chandler Highway Bridge is the Amcor paper recycling factory. Much of the Amcor site appears disused or to function only as storage for paper recycling items. Amcor have been found guilty of polluting Alphington's environment on at least three occasions; in 2001 for odour, in 2007 for discharging paper pulp into the Yarra and in 2008, Amcor was convicted for releasing oil into the Yarra from its Alphington plant and fined $80,000.^[9] In 2013, the company ceased operations at the Alphington plant. An EPA air monitoring station can be found next to the railway station just to the north.

Dan Murphy's is headquartered here.

Education

Local schools include Alphington Grammar School, Alphington Primary School, and St Anthony's Primary School. However, Alphington residents north of Wingrove Street are within the zone for Fairfield Primary School.

Transport

The area is serviced by the Alphington railway station, on the Hurstbridge railway line, and the Melbourne 508 bus route.

Sporting clubs

Parkside Football Club, an Australian Rules football team, competes in the Northern Football League and are based at Pitcher Park.^[10]

Alphington Netball Club competes in the Banyule competition and has 7 teams across aged groups from under 9s to Open.

Alphington Junior Football Club is also based in the suburb.

Golfers play at the course of the Latrobe Golf Club on Farm Road, Alphington.^[11]

Notable residents

• Richard Minifie - First World War Fighter Ace
• Paul Licuria - AFL player (Collingwood)
• Anthony Rocca - AFL Player (Collingwood).
• Lindsay Tanner - former federal MP for the Division of Melbourne
• Rick Amor - artist

Filming locations

The main shopping strip was used to film the 2003 Australian movie, Take Away, featuring Vince Colosimo and Stephen Curry.^[12] In 2011, the Australian television drama The Slap was filmed on location in an Alphington house.^[13]

See also

• City of Northcote - the former local government area ofwhich Alphington was a part

References

External links

• Australian Places - Alphington
• Darebin Historical Encyclopedia
• Yarra River at Alphington
• Alphington Community Centre
• Alphington Junior Football Club