The City of Glen Eira is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 38.4 square kilometres. It was formed in 1994 from the merger of the City of Caulfield and parts of the City of Moorabbin. At the 2006 census it had a population of 124,083.
Geography
The City has a diverse population, and includes the large Jewish community in Elsternwick, St Kilda East and Caulfield - at the 2001 census, 16.6% professed Judaism as their religious affiliation, second only to Catholicism (22.2%). Significant Greek, Italian, Polish, Chinese and Russian communities also make their home in the city. Residents' median age and income in the census were both slightly higher than average for the Melbourne statistical division.
History
This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language group.
Settlement
Victoria was proclaimed a separate colony in 1851.
East St Kilda commenced to be settled in the 1850s. The area of Glen Eira was once swamps, with farms in the northern area and market gardens in the south. Dirt tracks wound through the swamps and sandy heaths of the district. They were constantly damaged by farmers’ cart wheels, creating dangerous holes and making access difficult.
In 1853 the Victorian Parliament passed an Act to give authority to locally elected people to extract rates from residents in order to finance road construction. Residents lobbied for a roads district to be proclaimed to ensure that roads were maintained and passable.
Caulfield's organised communal existence began as a District Roads Board in 1857 and the first Caulfield Roads Board was elected in November 1857. It had control over the roads in an area bounded by Warrigal Road, Hotham Street, Dandenong Road, North Road and Brighton Road. The proclamation of the Caulfield Roads Board tied the name 'Caulfield' to a specific area.
Moorabbin became a Roads Board in 1862. The board's boundaries extended from the outskirts of Brighton and south-east along both sides of the Nepean Road as far as Mordialloc Creek, taking in the coastal areas now known as Hampton, Sandringham, Beaumaris and Mentone.
Caulfield became a Shire in 1863 and a City in 1913. Moorabbin became a Shire in 1874 and a City in 1934.
For the first 25 years of Caulfield’s municipal life, board/shire members met in "Mood Kee", the house of Cr Harold Pennington. He was paid 10 pounds a year to cover the cost of candles, fuel and the room. The annual general meeting was held in a tent in the backyard. The Caulfield Town Hall (now the Glen Eira Town Hall) was built in 1885. The building was modified several times to meet the growing demands of the municipality, as was Moorabbin Town Hall.
Moorabbin, part of the earliest development of Melbourne, began as an outpost of "Dendy's Brighton" and took shape as a market garden area along what was Arthur's Seat Road, now the Nepean Highway. For more than a century, the sandy soil of Moorabbin provided metropolitan Melbourne with much of its fruit and vegetables.
After World War II, Moorabbin became one of the first 'boom suburbs'. By the 1950s, along with the Sydney suburb of Bankstown, it became the fastest growing municipality in Australia.
Road conditions were just one the major challenges to face the elected bodies in a developing area. As the farms and market gardens gave way to housing and the district’s population grew, street lighting (originally gas), drainage, sewerage, rubbish collection, tips and other services were provided.
Today, the City of Glen Eira is an established area. Glen Eira City Council is responsible for maintaining an ageing infrastructure and strives to update with works on roads, drains and footpaths.
Public health issues have always been a key part of Council’s activities. A clean water supply and sanitary removal of sewage was critical last century because of outbreaks of disease, such as typhoid, diphtheria and scarlet fever. These functions have now been taken by Melbourne Water.
Council has for a long time had a role in controlling the impact of animals on health and well-being. Late last century, Caulfield Council was paying a reward for the heads of rats. Dog registration had been around since 1865.
Social caring and support roles have continued to grow, from maternal and child health centres — the first opened around 1924 — to providing work for the unemployed during the Depression, digging trenches in Caulfield Park during World War II, setting up welfare funds and operating Meals on Wheels from 1957.
Immunisation services have been provided since the last century. Council libraries began in the district with the Bentleigh Library in July 1961; the Caulfield service followed in 1963.
Providing public open spaces has also been a long tradition. Paddy’s Swamp (now Caulfield Park) was set aside as a reserve in the 1880s. Many other sites once used as tips were turned into parks and gardens. Some parks were provided partly to cater for the large crowds at municipal band performances. As involvement in sport developed, so did the reserves’ facilities.
~ Wikipedia
